The Secret Auror
by Pirate-Girl1017
Summary: Harry has an aunt, not Petunia but her little sister Bluebelle. After years as an undercover auror she rescues her nephew from the Dursleys. But who is her old friend Harry seems to hate so much? ON HOLD
1. Bluebelle Evans

The Secret Auror  
  
By: Pirate-Girl1017  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Bluebelle took a deep breath of air the second she stepped out of the carriage that had brought her to the front gates of the huge castle. It felt like she was coming home after a lifetime of being away, and mostly it was. For sixteen years she'd been more places then she could even remember trying to complete each mission the Ministry gave to her. Now it was time to relax, to settle down into a job that had no dangers what so ever. So she'd had no back thoughts about accepting the invitation to teach at her old school. How she'd missed Hogwarts. The sky was brimming with the colors of a brilliant sunset, birds sang out their final tunes of the day, the moat was peaceful with not a ripple to disturb it. The evening reminded her of a night long ago when she had found herself looking over the turrets of the castle as a student wishing over a star for a young man she knew was studying just a few floors below her. A team of house elves came bustling out the front door to pick up her luggage and show her to her room causing her to be jolted from her memory. "Good day miss," an elf greeted her. She looked down at him only to be bopped in the nose by a tower of crocheted potholders. "Pardon me miss, Dobby's got lots a hats an' no place to put them." "Yes, of course." She followed them inside and gazed around at the thick stone halls she hadn't seen in years wondering why an elf with clothes was working. Portraits waved and yelled 'hellos' at her, she spotted some she thought would have been moved since she had attended the classes there due to their outstandingly strange comments. Mainly the over anxious knight who was challenging her to a duel for looking at him too long. A sigh escaped her lips as she thought about him doing that same thing to her as a girl. After getting her trunks situated in her rooms she decided to explore the place, see if she still knew her way around. It was filling her heart to be walking the halls again, she hadn't set foot in the school since her sister, Lily, had been killed. But she had to let the past go and coming to the place where they had spent the best years they had together seemed an excellent choice. Lily wouldn't want her to be mourning her forever. And she had a relative to claim now that she had quit the Ministry. She blew a loose strand of her hair out of her face but the rebellious lock refused to obey. A mirror was hung on the wall to her left, she turned to face it and took in her appearance. Bright aqua hair fell down to her knees in a loose braid, dark blues eyes looked out at her from under thinly arched brows. Her skin was fair, her mouth was light pink with a slim crested upper lip and full lower one. The dress she wore was a thick strapped sky blue gown that hugged her slender body and flared out until it grazed the floor. A black belt wound around her middle, the symbol of Aquarius in the center. High button boots peaked out from under her skirt, as did the two petticoats under that. And a silk cape that doubled as long sleeves to her wrists flowed about her like a black cloud. All in all she thought she looked pretty good for her first day. "May I help you?" a deep voice asked from behind her. She spun around, a tall man with long, greasy black hair and black robes stood in the doorway she had just passed through. "Well I was just looking around and-" she cut her self off. "And..." he already sounded bored and impatient with her. Her eyes examined him from head to foot as if he were under her microscope. "What are you doing?" "Severus?" she took a step towards him. "Have we met?" A smile lit up her face and she moved closer to him so that they were inches apart, although she barely reached his collarbone and had to crane her neck to look him in the eye. "Severus Snape I can't believe you don't recognize me! How many girls hair did you turn blue in study hall?" "Bluebelle?" His dark eyes scanned over her as if he'd never seen a human female before. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be working for the Ministry!" The woman laughed, took hold of his arm and started walking down the hall again even if she knew he could hardly stand people touching him. As if to prove her point he struggled to loosen her grip on him. "Tell me what you've been up to, you never wrote." "With a job such as yours you should know the consequences of such foolish actions." "Formal as ever I see, but I've quit that poor excuse of an occupation and come to teach my specialty." "By that you mean you've taken up the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts?" "Exactly." Snape gave her a reproachful look just like the one her father used to give her when she exposed her rebellious streak. She knew he wanted that position more then most people wanted a million galleons. "You know how important you are to the destruction of the Dark Lord and his followers. A secret auror is nothing to joke about, especially when you yourself are one." Her red tongue stuck out of her lips at him. "Tell me of my nephew, I haven't seen him since he was a baby." "He is the most troublesome child ever to walk the walls of this school," he grumbled. "Is he as bad as his father?" "Thank god no, he never levitates helpless students in front of the entire school. All he does is break every rule ever made, not getting severely punished mind you and disrespect my house." She grimaced at the horrible memory he'd mentioned. At the time she had only been the second year but even then she'd known when a person deserved revenge. James Potter had encountered a very scornful Bluebelle Evens later that fateful day and was rushed to the hospital wing with a busted lip, broken nose and three loose teeth. Of course she'd never told Snape that. He wouldn't want a Ravenclaw muggle born defending him. "At least he hasn't done anything too horrid I hope?" "Other then by all accounts he should have been expelled in his first year." He managed to pull his arm free and let it dangle at his side. "Well then I'll have to make a visit to my sister's house the night before classes and pick him up." He raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you taking him in?" "I'm his godmother as well as his aunt, it's my responsibility to take care of him. But for the past seventeen years I've been facing Dementors, Death Eaters, giants and anything else He Who Shall Not Be Named could throw at me. It's time he's had a decent home not to mention a break for me." "I take it you've heard about his current status?" "I have and in fact I think I'll go get him now." He stopped dead in his tracks, he already had to give the boy Occlumency lessons that year when he wasn't supposed to be teaching him at all anymore. And quite frankly he didn't want to be around him any more then necessary. "Now?" "Now, I'll take the Knight Bus and be back before the hour is up."  
  
Number 4 Privet Drive  
  
"Get the door boy!" Vernon Dursley shouted from inside the living room to his nephew. A gangly young man with wild black hair and glasses came out of the kitchen where he was making his cousin's diner and went to the front door. The insistent knocking continued until he held the knob and opened the door. "Can I help you?" he asked. A figure in a long navy colored cloak stood on the welcome mat drenched from the storm going on outside. "Harry?" The person stepped in and threw their hood off, spraying water onto the Dursley family portrait causing Dudley's face to look chunkier then usual. "Yes?" "It is you, my how you've grown." A beautiful woman held his shoulders in her graceful, long fingered hands to turn him around so she could get a good look at him. Harry felt his cheeks heat up. "Well boy who is it?" His aunt Petunia stepped into the hall and gasped, holding her apron to her mouth. "Bluebelle, what are you doing here?" "It's good to see you too, big sister." Harry's eyes widened and stared at the more attractive of the two women. They didn't resemble one another in the least, but when he looked long enough he saw his mother's face only with different coloring. The remaining family came into the room, Vernon gawking at Bluebelle, Dudley still eating a chicken leg. "Who's this?" "She's my sister," Petunia answered her husband. "But your sister's dead." "Only my older one, the younger is like Lily but even stranger. Gone off doing gods knows what for years." Mr. Dursley puffed out his already large chest and advanced on their uninvited guest. "What do you want?" "I want my nephew, obviously you don't." Harry could barely believe his ears, after so long and loosing Sirius someone had come out of nowhere to take him away. A little late in his young life but there none the less. But he wasn't sure she was who she said she was, Voldemort had many ways of tricking those he targeted. "Get your things Harry, the Knight Bus doesn't usually wait this long for passengers." "Excuse me, but who are you exactly?" She held his green gaze with her own and gave him a smile he'd only seen coming out of photos of his parents. "Just who your aunt said I am, but I'm also your godmother and therefore in my protection. I'll explain everything on the bus. That is unless you all have an objection." The Dursleys all shook their heads, eager to be rid of what they considered extra baggage. "Good, get your stuff, I'll wait down here." "Prove that you're telling the truth," he didn't hold back his suspicious tone. Again she smiled at him as if she'd expected him to ask her that. "Expecto Patronum!" she cried as she pointed out her wand from her cape. A glittering crane emerged from the tip, sending the Dursleys running from the room screaming and Harry staring in awe. Only a good and powerful witch or wizard could conjure such a patroness. He all but ran up the stairs to collect his things. Twenty minutes later he was sitting in a plush chair on the third deck of the magical bus sipping tea across from his host. "Miss-" "Call me Bluebelle," she finished for him. "Bluebelle, if you're my aunt why didn't you come for me earlier?" She sighed and sat her teacup on the little table between them, this was not going to be easy. "You see Harry, I am-was what you would consider a secret agent. Since you were a baby I've been on every mission the Ministry could come up with. Over the years the job was either all but nothing happening or everything at once." He leaned closer, listening intently as she spoke, not wanting to miss a word. "I can't even name the number of counties I've been in anymore. But with your parents gone and your godfather in or escaped from Azkaban there was hardly anything I could do." "You do know about Sirius," he gulped, "I mean what happened to him, don't you?" Her face showed him a sympathetic look and she reached over her shoulder to pull her braid in front of her. "Yes I know, Dumbeldor told me. I was never very fond of Sirius Black but I know you were close to him and I'm sorry. If you don't want to stay with me very long that's fine, you'll be out of school in less then two years as it is." "No! I don't want to go back to the Dursleys again, let me stay with you." "You can stay as long as you like. But since I've quit my Ministry job you'll have to deal with the wayward reporter every so often." The bus stopped in its usual jolting way and they descended the stairs. House elves were already waiting to take his trunks at the front gates. The rain was still pouring as they exited the bus and ran up to the massive doors. "Where do you live anyway, Aunt Belle?" "At the opposite end of this valley, in an old Regency cottage." As they entered the school a dark figure came down the stairs and seemed to glide swiftly over to them, a dark cloak flowing behind it like an ominous cloud. "Ah Severus, come to greet me?" "Dumbeldor sent me to make sure you hadn't gotten locked out, Filch is still on his holiday." "Same thing," she pulled Harry out from behind her. "Now I hear that you two are already aquatinted, teacher/student am I right?" "Yes Aunt Bluebelle," Harry answered first, not wanting Snape to have the upper hand. "Is Potter staying with you in the castle or are you taking him to your home?" "He'll be staying here until term starts and at the end of the year he'll come home with me." She motioned for the flock of elves scuttling around their feet to take his trunks. "Put them in my rooms, there's an extra bed in there already." "Are you sure about this Professor Evans? Students aren't usually allowed to be in the school until September." Anyone could tell he was absolutely against what she was doing in every way possible. "I've never been surer. Now I'm famished, how about going out to get something to eat, Harry? It's been years since I ate at Hogsmead." "Alright," he was just glad to get away from his potions master as soon as he could. "Good, want to come Severus?" Harry winced. "No, thank you I have lesson plans to touch up on. Goodnight Belle," and he stalked off. "Belle? Is that your nickname?" "Yes, I thought he'd have forgotten it by now, no one calls me that anymore I've missed it. Well, let's go, the rains stopped." The restaurant they ate in was a little pub like place with a homey feeling to it. A huge fireplace was embedded into the back wall, but at the moment it was dormant due to the month being August. Round tables filled the floor, booths like the one they sat in lined the other three walls. At the hostess podium stood a young blond witch with a bored look on her face as she seated customers. "Aunt Bluebelle, what did you do with the Ministry?" "I'm not sure this is the best place to tell you, but I guess I can be discreet. I did undercover work with a few other aurors. Do you know Mad Eye Moody?" "Yeah, I met him two years ago, he's in the Order." They stopped when a waiter came with their food, two plates of steak, baked potatoes and string beans. "Did you work with him?" "For a while yes but I went on to a new assignment almost every month." She cut her diner up and took a long drink of butterbeer. "You said you never liked Sirius, why?" Somehow she knew that would come up, Albus Dumbledor had told her how attached the boy was to his godfather in the letters he sent her over the years. She chewed on her lips and folded her hands under her chin and looked her nephew in the eye. "I never got along well with him, or Petigrew or your father for the record. The only one I could stand was Remus, even if he was a werewolf I didn't really care about that and I still don't. He's a good man," she paused. "Sirius had a crush on me all through school, mind you I was two and a half years younger then them all. But unlike the majority of the female population of the school I wasn't obsessed with him." "Sirius was a girl magnet?" He couldn't believe it, Sirius Black didn't seem like the type who'd revel the attention of a castle full of girls. He seemed more like the type to avoid it. "Yeah, big time and I didn't want anything to do with him," she laughed at the memory. "One time he sent me a hundred fifty valentines in my fourth year, they clogged up the owlery all day." "And you still wouldn't go out with him?" "Nope." "Um...is that why your hair's blue?" he couldn't help himself. Bluebelle only burst out laughing, nearly falling out of the booth. "Oh heavens no! That was because of a study hall session gone wrong," she wiped a tear from her eye. "Severus was helping me with my potion segment for the O.W.Ls. We were studying one day and he measured some ingredient wrong by accident. I volunteered to try it and my hair turned blue, I liked it so much I've kept it ever since." "Snape turned your hair blue?" And here all this time Harry had been thinking that the teacher had never made a potion wrong in his life. This would be good ammo when after school lessons came and he needed a comeback. "Wait, why were you studying with him anyway? Aren't you in a separate house from him?" "Indeed I am, Ravenclaw to be exact. He was my friend," he choked on his potato. "Y-you were friends with him?!" "Yep, hard to believe isn't it?" "Very hard." This gave Harry some very frightening thoughts. What if they were still friends? What if Snape came to visit her in her home when school ended? He'd be trapped with his least favorite teacher in the world for hours at a time with no way of escaping. His aunt would want him to be polite to her guest and stay with them; no broom riding to give him an excuse to get away, no anything. "I know what you're thinking and I doubt that Severus would come to see me anytime soon. It's been at least eighteen years since we were that close, he'll need time to get used to me again." "How old are you?" "My, my it's not nice to ask a lady her age," she teased him, "but I'll humor you. I'm thirty-five." "But you look like you're in your twenty!" he blushed at his outburst. "That was another effect of Severus' warped potion, I've kept a stunning aging process. I'll have to thank him later for that." The bell on top of the door rang and a group of people came in. "I'm telling you it's impossible to turn giant spiders into butterflies!" "Well I bet you can and I'll prove it!" "You can't even go near a normal baby spider without screaming like a little girl!" "Ron! Hermione!" Harry jumped out of his seat and sprinted over to the two arguing teens. "Harry what are you doing here?" the girl asked. "I'm getting dinner," he was interrupted by Mrs. Weasley hugging him, hard. "Harry dear how good to see you! What on earth are you doing here? I thought you spent the summer with your aunt and uncle?" "I do- I did- just come here I want to introduce you to someone." He led the family to the table he'd been seated at less then a minute before. "This is my aunt, Bluebelle." "Nice to meet you," she greeted the awe struck red heads. "But I thought you...no family..." Ron trailed off. "She's been doing work for the Ministry, she brought me here from the Dursleys." "It's good to meet you," Hermione recovered first. "Are you staying here long?" "Yes, I'll be teaching at the school." "You don't have spider in your lessons do you?" he got elbowed by the frilly haired girl next to him. "No," she didn't know what to think about that. The rest of the night passed without any incident what so ever. She found that she rather liked the twins, their antics reminded her of a younger version of herself. Hermione though was too brainy, even for her who had been in the smartest house in Hogwarts. The rest of the Weasleys were good people and she could see why her sister's boy thought of them as his own family. It made her wish she'd been there for him a long time ago. On the way back to the castle she looked up at the night sky and saw a falling star shooting across the black sky. "Look Harry, make a wish." He closed his eyes and she did the same. "What did you wish for?" "For you to stay." Her face lit up in a blush.  
  
Disclaimer: I am not repeat NOT J. K. Rowling so that means I own nothing, except Bluebelle. Well, that was a good start if I do say so myself, for a first try. Now the next part is done so if you people want more just hit the little blue button at the bottom of the page and tell me so. 


	2. Getting To Know You

The Secret Auror 

**By: Pirate-Girl1017**

**Chapter 2**

Over the week before the official start of the school year Harry visited the village as much as he could, even if his aunt had already told him she'd sign his permission slip as soon as he got it. Apparently Ron and Hermione were staying there until classes begun to do some shopping for new schoolbooks that were cheaper there then in Diagon Alley.

"So what else do we need?" he asked on one such day.

"Let me check my list," the puffy haired girl pulled out an impossibly long piece of parchment. "A copy of the Monster Book of Monsters Part two." All three of them blanched, it was enough to run away from the first volume, and another would probably bring their houses down. "And Harry there's a note at the bottom your aunt wrote, it says to pick up a book on first level Occlumency. Why would you need that?"

He should have taken the list himself, Bluebelle had told him to but he was too busy playing wizards chess with Ron to pay attention. Now he wished he had, if anyone knew what Occlumency was it was Hermione.

"I...well, Dumbledor wants me to take more lessons on it," he said meekly.

"Why would you need lessons in that?" Ron asked through a mouthful of chocolate frogs. Harry pulled them into an alleyway away from prying ears.

"Remember the dreams I kept on having last year," they nodded. "Well Volde-" Ron winced, "He Who Shall Mot Be Named gave them to me and Professor Dumbledor thought that I needed to learn it. He has Snape giving me lessons after school, again."

"Snape? But he hates you!"

"I know Ron but I have to go, I might need it some day, soon, even if I hate him too."

"To learn that stuff is one thing but to have that slime ball teaching it to you is another. I mean you've already had him for five years and Occulu-whatsy last year. Isn't that enough torture?" For a while they were silent until a tapping on the cobblestone pavement signaled some one in the alley with them.

"Now what could be so important that you three need to hide from the rest of the town?"

"Professor Snape!" Some how they had the feeling that they were going to loose massive points the second the opening day feast was over.

"I believe you're out past your curfew." Harry looked at his watch, they were out forty-five minutes later then the time Bluebelle had set for him. "Your aunt sent me to look for you, come on." They trudged after him all the way back to the castle, the entire way was in complete and utter silence. When they entered the main hall Bluebelle was pacing back and forth across the long carpet that went down the length of the hall.

"Harry! Where have you been?" She turned him around looking for any blood or something that would explain his lateness.

"I'm sorry Aunt Bluebelle, we lost track of time shopping for stuff for school."

"I found them in an alley talking about something the Head Master strictly told Potter to keep secret last year."

"Really? Is that true?"

"Yes aunt." She sighed and waved off the other two students to go back to their inn, they gave their friend one sympathetic look before leaving.

"Come into my office, Severus thank you for finding him I'll come by later tonight." He didn't say anything but nodded and left, his cloak drifting behind him as he descended the stairs to the dungeons. They walked to the Defense Against the Dark Arts office, she locked the door after them. "Harry, do you know how worried I was?"

"I'm sorry Aunt, I really didn't mean to be late."

"No one does, but I know what lengths the Dark Lord resorts to in order to get what he wants. And you he wants you dead more then anything. Don't you understand that?"

"I know." He was getting tired of hearing that over and over again. She ran a hand through her hair and mumbled something to herself about 'it can't be happening again.'

"What is it? You're looking at me funny."

"What happened? Something must have happened for you to be this worried over me, it's not as if I haven't dealt with Voldemort before."

"Dark Lord, or his lackeys either one really, they hate me. I did something years ago that near ruined him and he hasn't forgiven me and won't ever."

"Was it something to do with my parents?"

"Yes, I only wish I could have done more for them. I don't want you to go through what I did, and you really had me worried today. Just promise me you won't do it again." The way she spoke, so pleadingly and fearful surprised him. She was always so happy, carefree and opposite if the woman who was talking to him.

"I promise," he breathed in relief.

"Now what were you telling Ron and Hermione that you weren't supposed to?"

"I was, actually I am taking Occlumency lessons from Snape-

"Professor Snape," she corrected him as she tightened the ties in her hair she'd mussed moments before.

"I'm not supposed to talk about it."

"I see, well no more talk of mind blocking classes, and no one is going to now about my run ins with You Know Who, not even Severus knows what I've done in detail for the past eighteen years. Am I clear?"

"Crystal."

Three days later he sat at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, impatient to eat the feast prepared by the army of elves that worked there. The Head Master was standing to make his speech, and no doubt introduce the newest addition to the Hogwarts faculty. Hopefully she would last more then ten months, Harry didn't want her to leave, he liked her too much.

"Welcome back to another fine year at Hogwarts," he said in his booming voice. He barely heard the rest of the talk until he spoke out about the new professor. "Finally I would like to introduce the new holder of the position of D.A.D.A (Defense Against the Dark Arts). Professor Bluebelle Evens."

A lovely young woman stood up at the teacher's table and smiled at the room full of students causing many of the boy's mouths to fall open. Her hair was down, flowing freely in soft waves to her knees, the first time Harry had ever seen it out of its usual bun or braid. After a moment she sat and the feast appeared on the five tables.

"Harry," Neville called from across his seat, "Ron said she's your aunt. Is it true?"

"Yes." Almost the entire Gryffindor male population started asking him about her, where she came from, did he think she was staying long, did he know her very well and things like that.

"Which side of the family is she on?" Seamus questioned him on the way to the common room.

"My mums, she's her little sister."

"Well, well, well I never thought I'd see the day that a mudblood would be a teacher here." A voice sniggered from behind them followed by the dull laughing of two others. "Filthy things, shouldn't even be allowed in."

"Malfoy."

"Potter. I should have know she'd be your relative, you have a soft spot for muggle borns," he glared at Hermione.

"Leave my family out of this, and Hermione too."

"Or else what? What would you do, get me thrown in Azkaban like you did my dad? I hate to break it to you but he's been let out, my mum paid the parole months ago." Harry glared at him took a step closer and Draco whipped his wand out from his robes. "Don't come any farther unless you want to fight me."

"I don't waste my energy on the likes of you." The Griffendors turned to leave.

"Are you afraid Potter or aren't you man enough to defend your filthy mudblood aunt?"

"Don't you dare talk about her that way! _Expelliarmus_!" Malfoy's wand went flying through the air hitting Vincent Crabbe in the eye.

"Idiots! Give me that!" Crabbe held his blackening eye as Goyle grabbed the wand off the ground and handed it to Draco.

"_Rictusempra!" _Harry fell over on his knees breathing heavely from all the air knocked out of his lungs.

"What's going on here?" Snape and Bluebelle came running from around the corner. "There had better be a good explanation to this," he hissed.

"Potter attacked me!"

"He started it!"

"Enough! Potter, Malfoy in my office now, the rest of you to your common rooms this instant!" The students scattered except the two asked, or demanded however one saw it, who stayed glued to the floor. As soon as they entered the cold office of the potions master he berated them with everything he had in his arsenal. "The first day of classes hasn't even begun yet and someone starts a fight! Not only that but now I have to give detention and loose my own time to baby sitting reckless students!" The insults went on and on until Bluebelle stopped them.

"I think they get the point Severus," she covered his mouth with the palm of her hand. Her gaze settled on the duo of boys in front of the wide, oak desk. "Now tell me Mr. Malfoy what happened."

"He," a finger pointed at Harry, "hit me with a spell and hit my friend Vincent in the eye!"

"And Harry what did you see happen?"

"He insulted Hermione and then you, he called you a mudblood."

"You won't use such language in my office Potter."

"She asked me what happened, so I told her."

"Harry I appreciate you standing up for me, but I can understand an insult without the use of foul wording. So he offended you first?"

"And he pulled his wand on me."

"Ah- ha. Then he attacked you," she faced the Slytherin boy again. "Do I have this right?" Both sixth years started spouting out their versions of the incident at the same time. It only accomplished giving their teachers headaches.

"Enough! Potter ten points from Gryffindor and detention with Mr. Filch on Friday!" Snape yelled.

"The same for you Mr. Malfoy," she added, "now both of you go to bed. If I catch either of you out tonight you'll be grading papers with me for a month. Got that?" They nodded and trudged out of the room. "Kids."

"It was almost entirely your nephews fault, you know."

"I saw it as 50/50, I don't choose favorites," she took a seat on top of the desk. "Harry isn't James, Severus, he doesn't do things without a cause. The boy provoked him and he retaliated, it's human nature you should know that."

"Those two are always at one another's throats just as their fathers were," he pulled a bottle of wine from a cubburd and poured himself a glass. "Would you like some?"

"Yes please," she took the offered glass and sipped. "You know Harry wouldn't start a fight for nothing, he defended me that's all, you would have done the same thing."

"That was years ago, Belle," he downed the drink and filled the cup again.

"Have you changed so much?"

"I may not follow the Dark Lord anymore thanks to you but because of that you haven't had a normal life since. Yes, I have changed since then, I've changed a lot." There was silence for some time, she swished the red liquid around and looked into the crystal that held it.

"Am I cause of this change?"

"I think you of all should know the answer to that." She cast her eyes down and gripped the fabric of her dress. "You risked a great deal for me, and your own sister pushed you to, and your life was near forfeit."

"But I'm glad I made that risk, you might me a Death Eater still if I hadn't."

"But your sister died because of it." Something flashed in her bright eyes and she sat the glass down with a loud clank.

"Don't you think I know that? You could only think about Lily most of the time I knew you and it seems that's the one thing that hasn't changed." With a huff she pushed off the desk and made for the door, "good night, Professor Snape." It shut behind her with a satisfying bang, at least on her part. She all but ran the entire way back to her chambers, not even stopping to cease Peeves from lining the stair railings with grease.

The next day she had Gryffindor and Slytherin six years first thing in the morning, it seemed she had to deal getting up early and that wasn't exactly something she was looking forward to every day.

"Good morning class," she greeted them as they all sat down.

"Good morning Professor Evans," they replied in perfect unison. The class went well, no student tried to kill another, the only incident was several paper balls flying through the air. They all seemed to be coming from the Slytherin side heading to the Gryffindor. When one such ball went hurling over head when her back was turned she whipped around and caught it between two fingers.

"What do we have here?" She unraveled it and found a crude stick figure drawings of Harry, Ron and Hermione all wearing 'I Luv Muggles' shirts. "Well this is interesting. Can anyone tell me who did this? It was easy to see who, the student had left their name written on the bottom of the paper, which was actually old divination notes. "No one? Then why is Gregory Goyle's name here on the drawing?"

The room was silent, and the accused person hunched over in his seat trying not to be seen even with his immense girth.

"Mr. Goyle five points will be taken from your house and you're to stay after school to have a little chat with me, class dismissed." The remainder of the morning passed by much more smoothly and she found she rather liked teaching the children. At lunch she took her place at the faculty table, but as far from Professor Snape as possible, and began a conversation with Professor Trelawney.

"I had the most intriguing prediction concerning you, Professor Evans," said the witch with the huge glasses.

"Really? What about?"

"I saw danger, death, most disturbing for such a good person, and I saw a man, a very odd man."

"A man, what sort of man?"

"He was very dark, very cold like some one who spurned others and I felt revenge, blood spilling revenge," she shook her head and patted the younger woman's shoulder. "I'm sorry if I worried you my dear, but I thought you should know."

"Thank you, I'll think about it," and she continued eating. All day she thoroughly ignored her friend, but he should be used to the behavior, he knew how spiteful she could be. When classes were done she stayed at her desk awaiting her picture drawing student.

But he didn't arrive alone.

"Professor Evans," a cold, silky voice greeted her formally.

"Severus, to what do I owe this unexpected visit?"

"I've heard that you have taken points from one of my students on a rather unusual charge." One thin aqua eyebrow raised up on her forehead and she looked Goyle straight in the eye.

"He was throwing some insulting and unneeded notes around my class room, and left his name on one. I did what I had to."

"You are sure that it was this particular student that did this?"

"His name was on the back of the paper," she said dryly. The boy cringed and tried to hide behind his house head.

"And what was written on this paper?" With an exasperated sigh she pulled the lude note out of the top left drawer of her desk.

"See for yourself," and handed it to him. His black eyes scanned over the parchment and stared at the sixth year Slytherin.

"Did you draw this?" The plump face shook vigorously 'no.' "Then who did?"

"I-I don't know, sir," he stammered.

"Well I should think that until the culprit is found that no points should be taken from any house. What do you think, Professor?"

"I think that if parchment is thrown across the room from the Slytherin table towards the Gryffindor table with a Slytherin student's name on the back that it's obvious who did and obvious who should be punished." The two stiffened, one in fright the other in anger.

"Mr. Goyle, go back to the dormitory, I need to speak to Professor Evans alone." The boy all but ran from the room and tore down the hall for the entrance to the dungeons.

"What could possibly be so important that you had to fake being interested in some little paper ball squabble just to talk to me?" she rested her boots on the top of her desk and leaned back in her chair.

"Your little silent treatment has done its job," he hissed.

"Oh has it, I'm sure Lily would've told me to keep it up longer."

"I don't care what your dead sister would've thought." Mocking laughter came from her pink lips as she wiped a pretend tear from her cheek.

"Now that is something I never thought I'd hear you say, seeing that you used to hang onto every word she ever said." Snape stomped over to her and slammed his hands on either side of her heeled feet.

"I've had enough of your sarcasm, you never used to give me your sharp tongue."

"No, I didn't, that was saved for James Potter," she stood sending her chair falling to the ground. "But at the moment you make me just as annoyed with you as I was with him. Now please leave my classroom I have work to do."

He pulled his composure back together, almost instantly regaining the cold potions master the school knew so well.

"Very well, goodnight, Belle," he left the room.

"Oh that man, he makes my blood boil!"

The weekend came quickly, thankfully and Bluebelle decided to catch up more with Harry. She found him Saturday leaving the Quidditch pitch after practice carrying his Firebolt under his arm.

"Aunt Bluebelle!" he smiled.

"Hello Harry, what you got there?" she pointed to the broom.

"Oh, that's my Firebolt," he held it out. "Sirius gave it to me," he added quietly.

"I used to play Quidditch, seeker really. Could I give it a try? I haven't played in years." His face lit up, a fellow, living, Quidditch player in the family seemed to brighten up the darkest of his days.

"Sure," they headed back to the field. Madame Hooch was just leaving when she saw them coming and her yellow eyes gleamed when she saw the new teacher.

"Bluebelle it's been too long dear, I remember when I taught you. Be glad she's your Aunt Mr. Potter, you've got one of the finest seekers I've ever seen walking next you."

"It's good to see you too, could we use the field for a bit? I want to see how rusty my skills have become."

"Of course, the extra brooms are still in a trunk out there, just bring them in when you're done."

Soon they were high above the castle turrets playing one on one.

"I'd forgotten what it looked like from up here," she cried as she zoomed after the little Golden Snitch.

"Ain't it great?"

"Absolutely!" Harry looked at her in amazement, there was no way that the skills she possessed were rusty, he hadn't seen such maneuvering since the World Cup. She twisted and turned, pulled up from dives he couldn't even fathom and even had performed acrobatic tricks as she zigzagged through the tower stands for the crowd. And all that on one of the old school brooms.

The sun had completely set by the time they were done, she the undisputed winner of their match.

"That was the most fun I've had in along time," she said breathlessly. Her braid was windblown, long locks of hair falling down around her, near half of it sticking up in the air. But a wide smile was on her face.

"I didn't think you played Quidditch."

"There's a lot about me that you'll find out sooner or later," they came to her chambers. "Come inside and we can talk more." He sat on a plush, pine green couch as she brushed the tangles from her hair and fixed them a pot of hot cocoa. "Well, what do you want to know?"

"Tell me about your work in the Ministry, on the Knight Buss you didn't say much. What were you doing exactly?"

"I knew you'd ask that, maybe I should be teaching Divination. I told you I did undercover work, well... to put it bluntly I was a secret auror."

"A secret auror? What's the difference?"

"Many regular aurors joined the Order of the Phoenix, but when I wanted to the Minister gave me another job," she sipped her chocolate. "You see, I knew some people personally who had joined You Know Who and that was valuable information, still is. So I tracked a lot of them down, and it took me all over the world. In each country I had a knew name, new age, new everything but..."

"But what?"

"I was a dead give away with my blue hair," she giggled mirthlessly. "Soon some one caught me and, well I'm not going to get into that. Getting out and getting back to work took a long time, years, and-what is it Harry?" He was looking down at her arm that was reaching for a cookie on the table separating them.

"Where'd you get that scar?" She held her breath and looked down, the starts of five thick, white scars were showing from a long rip in her long sleeve. It must have caught some where during their match. "Are they from your missions?"

"You can't tell anyone about those, Harry," she pulled the fabric over the exposed flesh. "No one must know, it's for the enemy to recognize me, if they find out about a woman with blue hair and scars they'll come not only for me but you too."

"I understand," he sat without saying anything for a while. "Does Professor Snape know? You two are pretty close."

"No, he doesn't know, if he did then He would already know I'm here and Severus' double agent status would be blown. Besides, we're not on the best of grounds right now." Part of Harry wanted to jump up and down, dance, and do anything to celebrate the chance of not having Snape as a close family friend. But the other part saw the quick flash of hurt in her eyes and knew that the friendship of the Head of Slytherin House meant a great deal to her.

"Oh, I see," he paused, "I had something like that happen to me and Ron once. It'll be back to normal." Her mood was clearly lifted by the happy face that appeared and the sparkle coming back to her vibrant eyes.

"I hope so, he's the only friend I have left from school."

"So tell me about when you were at Hogwarts." The night past on with him listening intently to the stories she told him about her childhood with his mother, the fights with his father and anything else that happened to her the years she stayed there.

As he walked back to the Gryffindor common room he overheard Dumbledore talking to McGonagall in a teacher's lounge.

"Are you sure about having her back? One of the reasons she's so hunted by the Dark Lord is right in castle!"

"I know that she'll bring a lot of good here, Minerva. And I think Severus needs a woman in his life as it is."

"Oh I can't wait to get the wedding invitation." Harry froze and felt his stomach churn and his blood stop. What did she mean my wedding invitation? And what did he mean that Snape needed a woman? He rushed back to the common room and found Ron and Hermione arguing over why it was or wasn't necessary to knit hats for house elves. His eyes were bulging and a vein seemed to be popping out from his forehead.

"My gosh Harry, what's wrong?" asked Hermione.

"Yeah, you don't look so good," Ron walked over to him.

"Snape likes my Aunt!"

Disclaimer: Once again HP is not mine only his make believe aunt is. Well, that certainly seems like a nightmare no don't it? I just had to make one of Harry's worst fears come out, I just couldn't help myself. We'll have to see about the next part. I'll even give you a hint: it's about the world's coolest holiday, and don't even think I mean Christmas. Oh and sorry for the delay, are ready to hear my excuse?

my computer crashed

family reunion

anime convention

I went to see Phantom of the Opera

And finally summer school (which is now over thank god)

Sooooooooooo I have been busy.

Pirate-Girl1017


	3. The Halloween Ball

**The Secret Auror**

**By:** Pirate-Girl1017

**Chapter 3**

The two exchanged glances then looked back at Harry.

"We knew that, you told us they were friends," she sat down again.

"No, no not that way," he pulled at his ever-messy hair. "The like-like way as in how I used to like Cho way!" He acted as if the world were about to end and collapsed into a near by chair.

"What the bloody hell gave you that idea?" Ron said horrified.

"I overheard Dumbledore and McGonagall when I was coming back here. They were talking about weddings for the love of god!"

"Weddings?"

"Yeah, Snape's and my Aunt Bluebelle's!" There was silence, only interrupted by Ron choking on his own spit once his mind registered what was said.

"That conjures up some nasty images," he winced. "I mean Snape and her haven't even been talking for days! How could he like-like her?"

"I don't want to know," Harry moaned.

"Maybe she was being sarcastic or joking," Hermione advised. "For some reason I don't think Professor Snape is one to get married." They slept on the topic for that time. But when Harry went to bed he had the worst dream imaginable. He was dressed a stiff tux as Bluebelle adjusted a long, white veil over her hair she asked if he would mind calling Snape 'Uncle Severus.'

Surprisingly the topic of marriage didn't' come up again. His Aunt and (thankfully not uncle) other teacher began talking again and eventually (near Halloween actually) she moved back to her original seat at the faculty dining table next to him. Two weeks before the holiday came Dumbledore made a special announcement at dinner.

"I would like to be the first to tell you, students, that this year we shall be having a masquerade ball for Halloween this year. All who come there will be a costume contest held and the winner shall receive 50 points for his or her house."

A collection of awes and cheers rang out among the student body.

"I would also like to set the rules down now for you to have a head start on your clothes. There will be no indecent showing of skin, I assume all of you know what I mean. And going to the ball as yourselves is not considered a costume. Each costume can be hand made or bought but will not be allowed to be enchanted."

This time groans issued from the audience.

"And a mask is mandatory the ball being a masquerade, it need not be extravagant, just enough to hide ones face. Anything else shall be allowed. The gala is Halloween night, I hope to see each and every one of you there." He sat and the feast appeared.

"What are you going to be Harry?" Ron asked.

"I don't know, I'll have to think about it. What about you Hermione?"

"I won't be going, I have hats to sew and I'm taking a poll down in Hogsmead on the popularity of the enslavement of house elves."

"How will you get into Hogsmead if it's not a trip?"

"Professor McGonagall gave me permission." The boys sighed at her futile attempts at freeing all house elves, they still knew it was hopeless but obviously she didn't.

Up at the teacher's table an aqua haired woman pondered as she speared a carrot with her fork.

"Don't tell me you want to dress up for that ridiculous little student dance?"

"I went to quite a few parties at school Severus and I'm not going to stop now. I haven't been to a party since Harry's first birthday."

"And what, pray tell, are you going to dress up as?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out, that is if you show up at the ball to see." Over the next few weeks the students of Hogwarts planned their costumes, arranged dates and set up decoration committees. One Saturday as Harry walked with Hermione to the library they noticed the Great Hall being strung up with black and orange streamers. The decorators were a group of Ravenclaws who had the job the for the day. Each house got it's own day to fix up the castle for the impending ball. And in the very center directing the group was Cho Chang.

Harry had tried to tell himself over and over again that he had gotten over her the year before. But that hadn't been working as of late. She turned her head his way, her long ponytail flipping over her shoulder, and locked eyes with him.

He could have sworn he died on the spot.

Unfortunately Hermione grabbed him by the arm and tried to drag him away from the hall. The Asian girl saw this and faced away from him in a huff, no doubt jumping to the conclusion she came to last year that he was more then friends with Hermione. Now he really did feel like dying.

"Hey Harry," Ron looked up from the book on Native American demons Bluebelle had him reading out of with her.

"Hi," he slumped down into an empty chair across from them.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing Aunt, just having a bad day."

"Well I wouldn't call that nothing. Ron, Hermione could you excuse us?" They nodded and she took her nephew by the wrist and led him out on the grounds to a stone bench nearly totally covered in moss. She took out her wand and removed the layer of vegetation on the seat and arranged her robes as she sat on it. "I recognize that look, your mother wore it a lot in her sixth and seventh years too."

"What do you mean?"

"Is there some one you haven't told me about yet, a girl perhaps?" He gulped nervously. "So it is a girl."

"How do you know all this stuff?"

"I don't," she smiled. "Years of practice reading people comes in handy, plus I had two sisters so the extra help came from that."

"Oh." She laughed and ruffled his hair, he grunted and tried to put it back in place. "Your mum looked and acted the same way you did when she stared falling for your father. That's how I know you have a girl on your mind."

"She acted like me?"

"Anyone with a crush acts that way, but you have her eyes and they lit up just like yours when the subject of a certain some one would pop up." He felt his face heat up from chin to hairline, it was a bit unnerving to have someone know you so well. His glasses slid down his nose from all the sweating he was doing.

"So, what does a person with a crush look like?"

"Well, let's see," she pulled out her wand and shot a red beam from it. Two miniature, red people floated in the air, they oddly resembled a version of Romeo and Juliet he'd seen his Aunt Petunia watch once. "One usually stares at the other a lot when they think they're not looking," the boy demonstrated. "Or it's sometimes that one will spend time with the other and have this dreamy expression," the girl's eyes glazed over.

"And that's how you see if they like some one?"

"Basically, it's really obvious most of the time." The little people puffed into tiny fireworks and disappeared. "Would you tell me who the lucky lady is?"

"Uh," he scratched the back of his head.

"It's alright, you don't have to. I remember being shy telling Lily about my crush in school, I know how it feels." He nodded and looked up at the shapes in the clouds. "So, what are you doing for the Halloween ball?"

"I don't know, I don't even have a date."

"I just met a young girl who seemed rather interested in you, what was her name," she rubbed her chin. "Oh yeah, Cho something, do you know her?"

"Yeah," he squeaked out when she hit too close to home. "I know her."

"Maybe you could go with her, or that Ginny Weasley." She sighed and plopped onto the grass and laid back. "It's been too long since I went to any dance, I may not even remember how."

"You dance?"

"I used to love dancing, Harry. I could stay at one of those parties until the sun came up." Absently she plucked a dandelion from the ground to play with its petals and smell its scent. "How on earth would I ever get into a good costume now?" That clicked to his memory of the day he saw the scars on her wrist, were they on the rest of her body? Was that why she never showed any more flesh then her hands, neck and head? Evan Professor Trelawney didn't cover up as much as she did. And it was rather warm for October, every one else had lighter clothing, except her, she kept her long gloves and skirts on like she did now.

"Aunt, would I be going to far to...I mean about the costume party. Do the teachers dress up too?"

"Of course, I don't think Severus will of course but they did all the years I was here. Why?"

"Why don't you think you could get into a costume, you're not fat or anything."

"My body, isn't in the best of conditions anymore," was her only reply. He didn't' need anything else, he was sure that her scars were on the rest of her as well and she didn't want any one seeing them. For the first tie in his life he was glad about only having one scar.

The day, or night really of the masquerade arrived and each guest was in his or her dormitory making last minute adjustments to their costumes. That included instructors. Harry, Ron and Hermione walked into the Great Hall and gawked over the decorations that lit up the room. Hermione had decided that she could do her house elf poll the next day, she wanted to see all the things every one came as. Green and orange jack O' lanterns floated in the air, ribbons ran along the walls, the ghosts flew and danced overhead. Iron cast candle sconces stood at the end of each table and in the corners. Cobwebs were scattered around and pretend coffins opened up to show stuffed vampires that handed out candy.

The tables were pushed against the wall to create a dancing floor that was bordered with floating skulls whose eye sockets glowed a fiery red. Other tables held all sorts of food and drinks and souvenirs of the evening.

Harry looked down at his costume, and winced. Why did he listen to Ron in the first place? He tugged at the cloth of his Dementor robes. His friends wore something one would consider normal-ish. The black silk mask that covered his eyes itched and clashed with his glasses. Ron clanked around in a full suit of armor he had borrowed from a statue in the second hall corridor. Hermione had made her own dress, the practice with clothes for house elves had paid off it seemed. She entered the hall as a medieval maiden with a peacock feather-plumed mask over her face.

He looked up at the staff table and thought his eyes would fall out and his heart rupture, he saw his Aunt.

She'd managed to put together an Arabian costume that would make any mortal man's mouth start watering. Her hair was pulled up in a high ponytail that fell down in wild curls over her back and held up by a silver band. A long sleeved, royal blue vest covered her top, it clasped between her breasts, a gauzy material fell over her middle all the way around from under it. A thick, intricately woven belt came around her waist and flowed into puffy pants that were snug around her ankles. Her shoes came to sharp points at the toes. A see through veil was draped over her face from the bridge of her nose past her chin. Her eyes spotted him and he noticed they were lined in kohl, she looked beautiful and had successfully not shone any of her marred skin.

He also noticed that she was sitting next to the only person in the room who didn't have a costume, Professor Snape. Then the only thing that could make the night even more unbearable was the entrance of Draco Malfoy and his new girlfriend Amethyst Pierce. The couple was expensively and elegantly dressed as the Phantom of the Opera and Christine. Ron rolled his eyes from inside his helmet at their posh looks then looked down at the rusty metal he wore and mentally kicked himself.

"Well Potter let's see what you came up with," Malfoy said. "Are you supposed to be dirty bed sheets?" The girl on his arm giggled and clutched her date.

"Oh I know, he's the space between Granger's ears!" Slashing blue eyes grinned at the trio as the green of the beautiful Slytherin girl laughed at them. The two left laughing madly at the Gryffindors inability to make a come back.

"Did you see that?" Bluebelle asked her friend.

"See what?"

"What Malfoy did to Harry." He waved it off and drank a glass of pumpkin juice.

"School rivalries, they're nothing new, ignore it." She shoved his shoulder and looked over as the hired band started to play. They were a new group in the wizarding world that had been swiftly climbing the charts, they called themselves the Evil Octupi. She had no idea why they picked that name, apparently no one else did either but no one else really cared because they liked their music so much. The children started to dance to the fast paced song, she saw Harry approach the young Asian girl she'd known was interested in him.

Before he could open his mouth she took him out to the floor and whispered something in his ear, his face glowed red.

"Well Harry seems lucky in love."

"Love is for the weak."

"That's it," she stood and grabbed Snape's arm and lifted him out of his seat. "I didn't waste my afternoons at school to teach you how to dance to have you just sit here. You. Dance. Now!" He dug his heels into the tiles as she tried to pull him to the dance floor.

"I don't dance!"

"Yes you do and you did it really good and you're not going to waste it!" A much slower song started to play and her face lit up in a grin. "Perfect."

"No."

"Yes." The lyrics flowed from the female lead singer's mouth in the form of a gothic style love song. She rested one hand on his shoulder, the other in his outstretched hand. His was forcibly placed on her small waist and enveloped her slender hand with his fingers. They moved gracefully over the floor, better so then the majority of all the other dancers there. "You haven't lost it."

"Only because you drilled it into me at a young age."

"Then I'm glad I did." The song seemed to have words to pierce her heart, the lyrics hit so close to her feelings. She recognized the song as the piece by a muggle, underground artist. It talked about how a woman felt like a schoolgirl with the man she loved, and she did, she really did.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, everything is fine," she put on a fake smile. 'Except my heart breaking,' she thought. Still she let him spin her around and pull her over the floor until the song ended. When they stopped their faces were centimeters away, their breath causing their hair to ruffle. For one moment she thought he was going to kiss her but he put his mask of the unemotional teacher on and looked cold as ever again and guided her back to her seat.

Her poor heart couldn't take it much more, at least she knew that. Harry came over to her when Snape left to go back to his rooms.

"Aunt, are you all right?"

"Yes Harry, I'm fine." He didn't believe her for a second, he put his hand on her arm.

"He hurt you, didn't he?" The rest of the room didn't even notice their conversation, except two professors that knew the truth about Severus and Bluebelle, McGonagall and Dumbledore listened carefully. "I saw you dancing, and you looked happy, as much as I don't know why you would be when it was **him**. You didn't get a grease stain on your costume did you? You never know with him."

"Harry, Harry you sure do know how to put me in a good mood when I'm down," she laughed. "Thank you. Now was that Cho Chang you were dancing with?"

"Uh...yeah it was. Did I tell you what a good dancer you were?" His changing of the subject didn't work out the way he wanted, instead she was more interested in his partner.

"What did she whisper to you?"

"Nothing," he said too quickly.

"Sure." The party lasted long into the night and she'd danced almost every dance with anyone willing to be her partner. By the end she made a mental note to never let Hagrid pulverize her feet next time he volunteered. The rest of the time she watched others, mainly her nephew, who asked Cho out to the floor three more times. Hermione didn't make it through one dance though, a joint in Ron's armor caught her dress and ripped it down the side from her hip to the floor.

Over all it was a wonderful evening, even though one guest left extremely early.

The next day she sat at her desk waiting for her morning class of Slytherins and Gryffindors, they were going to go over goblins today, only a more advanced lesson. As they started pilling in through the door she mentally took the roll as she had long since memorized their names by their faces.

'Lavender Brown, Parvoti Patil, Millicent Bulstrode,' she thought as they took their seats. 'Draco Malfoy playing kissy face with Amethyst Pierce.' The list went on through her mind until every one was in their assigned places and were paying (relative) attention.

"Alright everyone stop your conversations it's time to start," she rapped her ebony wood and unicorn hair wand sharply on her desk. The class quieted down and all eyes were now on her. "Before we begin can some one tall me what I said we would be going over today earlier this week?"

Hermione's hand shot up into the air so fast she nearly came off her chair because of it.

"Miss Granger," she chose out of the single person crowd.

"You said we would be studying advanced goblin defense today," she answered like an open textbook.

"Very good, now I believe you went over the basic kind of goblin in your second and third year. Am I right?" many nodded. "Alright then." She pulled down a screen from above the chalkboard and pulled out a projector from a closet with a flick of her eight and a three-quarters inch wand. A roll of slides was already placed in it and ready to play, again she swatted at it and a colored picture appeared as all the curtains came closed.

A good number of students stared laughing at the image presented to them.

"Does any one know who this is?" she pointed to the screen.

"A drag queen," muttered Draco to Amethyst.

"Not so loud Mr. Malfoy, someone might hear you but no, this is not a drag queen. Obviously some one knows or there wouldn't be so much excitement." Not many offered their hands to answer at first, and then one got the courage to do it. "Mr. Thomas?"

Dean Thomas had to try not to laugh as he answered the question, "it's David Bowie in Labyrinth."

"Finally," she tossed her ponytail over her shoulder, "not only is this one of my personal favorites (A/N: mine too! I luv Laby!!) but it is actually a true story."

"No way," Harry called out. "It's just some Muppet movie." She made a 'tsk tsk' sound at him and changed the slide. A painting was now in the wall of a proud looking couple sitting on matching thrones. "This is the real ending to the movie some of you know about, for those who don't just ask your class mates, it's an easy enough story to follow. The girl sending the Goblin King away is merely to try and teach young children a lesson, but the older the child is as they watch it the more they see the truth in it."

"What do you mean?" asked Dean, who, consequently enjoyed the film as well.

"Well the girl wished herself away to the King a year later and they're married now with seven kids, Jim Henson just happened to know her before she became a Queen. It's quite the love story." The slide changed again to show the ugly creatures they had been promised to be taught of, short and squatty things with green/gray skin and a variety of odd features like six- inch noses, ears larger then their heads and eyes that seemed like were about to pop out of their thick skulls.

The remainder of the lesson continued on with the strict caution to never try to wish anyone away because it simply wouldn't work if the royals weren't in need of another subject; which the teacher stressed they weren't. And the fact that goblins such as these loved to foul up whatever they could, other then the fact that they weren't too smart either. As Harry walked out after she'd dismissed them she called him over.

"I got a letter from Remus Lupin this morning," she held up a piece of parchment, "he'll be meeting me at my house at the end of the week. He told me that you two know each other quite well. Do you want to come?"

"Yeah, I haven't seen him in a while. When?"

"Meet me at the Qudditch field after dinner and don't worry about being out late Dumbledore has already said you could come with me."

At seven thirty exactly on the intended day Harry arrived at the stadium to find Bluebelle waiting for him, their brooms in each of her hands. They rode out, him following her lead until a white shape came into view. That was no cottage like she'd said, it was much bigger then any house could be for one person.

"Do you like it, Harry?" He only nodded as he landed. The vines climbing up the peeling white walls would have his Aunt Petunia shrieking and the lack of a two- car garage would have sent Uncle Vernon into a huff. And he also noticed the lack of electrical wires, Bluebelle apparently didn't have a television set. He could only imagine what Dudley would do if he knew that.

Suddenly the front door burst open and a speedy blob of gray and green flew from it.

"Mistress!" A little house elf clung to Bluebelle's legs crying its globe like eyes out and sniffling with its long, pointy nose. "Skippy missed you so Mistress! It's been so lonely wit' out you here!"

"Oh, I missed you too, Skippy," she reached down to pat the elf's batty ears. "There's some one I want you to meet, this is my nephew, Harry Potter." She pulled her cloak out of the servant's line of vision to show her the boy.

"H-Harry Pott-tter," it squeaked. Now that he could see it clearly he saw that it was really a girl, he could tell from the thin braided pig tails on either side of it's head. "Skippy's brother has told Skippy all about you, sir, and Skippy's brother never lies, sir. Harry Potter is a great man."

"Her brother lives at Hogwarts," she explained. "You've probably met him down in the kitchens, Dobby. Do you remember him by any chance?"

"Oh yeah, I know him," he looked at Skippy. "It's nice to meet you." The creature blushed then threw its hands up in the air and shrieked.

"What is Skippy doing?! Guests in the house and Skippy leaves them alone wit' the teakettle on the stove!" she ran back inside.

"Is she always like that?"

"Yes, lovable isn't she?"

His Aunt went inside as well. They hung their cloaks on a rack near the door and she gave him a tour of her home. She actually did have a TV, it was just powered by magic, and the wires were bothersome to have this far out into the country and this close to the school. There were three bedrooms, one master (or mistress in this case) and two guest. A salon, a dinning room and kitchen, a cellar that stored racks of Bluebelle's favorite wines, a bathroom on every floor and an attic that had been turned into an office, work place and library. All the furniture was antique and mostly all the wood was cherry.

The majority was the floor was bare, but each hallway and stair and the spots in front of the fireplaces (which each room had one) had thick rugs with elaborate designs in rich, dark colors.

Cabinets and shelves were filled with various magical devices that Harry had seen some with Mad Eye Moody, only these were travel sized. Some he didn't recognize like the portable invisible entity seeker. It was about the size of one's palm, oval in shape, silver and had rivets on the side where fingers would grip it. When the button on top was pushed a beam of green light would come out and when the invisible being came into the ray the beam would turn red. He reminded himself to never use his special cloak around her.

When the tour was done they returned to the salon where Lupin and several others were waiting.

"Sorry about that, I wanted to show Harry around," she told them.

"Quite all right," Remus came over to her and gave her a quick hug, his tattered and patched robes flinging around her. "Long time Evans, haven't seen you in a while. Still with the Ministry?"

"No, I teach now, D.A.D.A."

"I should have guessed, you always were good at that," he spotted Harry. "Hello, how have you been?"

"Great," he replied, "I never thought I'd get away from the Dursleys."

"Well believe me you'll never want to leave this place, your Aunt is one of the best people in my book."

"Will you ever stop complimenting her? You never could at school," a dark figure came out from the shadows. "It grows tiring to hear again after nine straight years of it."

"Severus will you ever let any one else have any time with Bluebelle? I mean you did have her all to yourself years ago, I think it's time you started sharing."

"Don't worry about him, Remus, he's just angry at me again. I made him dance with me at the Halloween ball last week, he's just sore about it."

"I am not sore about that, I'm sore about having to rebuild up my reputation with my students."

"Sure," she rolled her eyes. "So what is it that you wanted me for?" She faced the old professor again just as Skippy brought a polished silver platter piled with tea servings balanced on her bony arms. As they all sat down they greeted the other people in the room, the Weasleys and took their teacups.

"There's bad news Belle," Lupin said gravely. Snape's eyebrow twitched, no one noticed but Harry. "The word underground is that You Know Who is looking for some one, the person who put Bellatrix and her cohorts into Azkaban."

"But he doesn't know who did it, we don't even know who did it," sputtered Mrs. Weasley. "The Ministry never gave out who did it and we don't even know if they do."

"I know that," he continued, "apparently though He Who Must Not Be Named marked this guy and knows who he is. But he doesn't know **where** he is."

"Why wasn't the rest of the Order called?" asked Mr. Weasley. "They should have been notified."

"Dumbledore doesn't want too many people to know about this, if too many do and one gets in **his** hands then we'll loose the person who put those lunatics in prison." He took a deep breath and every one was silent. Finally Snape broke the eerie quiet.

"So what does the Headmaster want us to do?"

"To search out for anyone with above average powers and find out if it was them, if not repair the memory of the interrogation and continue."

"How is this person marked?" Molly asked.

"We don't know, most likely as a memory in **his **head with our luck. We'll just have to keep going until we find them."

The evening went one with plans of action and when that was over the Weasleys left and Harry played Lupin in a game of wizards chess. They talked about the danger Harry was in, or rather Remus talked and he listened. When he left Bluebelle brought Harry to a guest room and conjured up a pajama set for him and left him to sleep.

Late that night he woke up from a nightmare. Voldemort had returned and taken his Aunt away and used every banned curse there was one her right in front of him. Sweat dripped down his forehead in rivers and his clothes stuck to his skin. Wind from the slightly open window blew in and made him shiver under the thick blankets. His hands fumbled on the night stand trying to locate his glasses and when he did they slid over his face several times from the wetness before sitting in place. He climbed out of bed and walked out to the balcony only to find it locked. Not wanting to fight with the lock without a wand he wandered the narrow hallways until he sat on the landing near the ground floor.

He could hear talking in the salon.

The grandfather clock below his perch hit 2 o'clock in the morning. Who was still up at this hour? He strained his ears to hear the conversation. It was muffled as the double doors to the salon were closed, so he crept down the stairs, which were thankfully non-creaking. He sat next to the closed portal and pressed an ear against it.

Inside Bluebelle paced the floor, her white nightgown and periwinkle robe floating around her like a massive, pale cloud. Severus stood against the window watching her as she steamed and fumed under the moon's light streaming through the glass.

"Why is he looking now? It's been seventeen years since they were put away! Why should he care who did it now?"

"He wants all obstacles out of the way, his power is growing and as any one would want he doesn't want anything to stop him."

"But why now?" She crossed her arms over her chest and slumped onto a love seat. "Of all the times why now?"

"I can't answer that." A strand of bangs fell over her eye and she pushed it away angrily and she glared at him. "I don't even know how he thinks that he needs to search this very minute and I was very close in his circle at one time."

"Don't remind me," she huffed. "I had to pull you back, and even then you weren't entirely sure it was the right thing. What could he have offered you that would make you not trust me?"

"This isn't the time for that conversation, Belle," he sunk deeper into the shadows. "What we need to worry about is the crisis at hand. I'll have to go early back and find out as much as possible, only then can we proceed."

"As much as I hate that, you're right." A sigh escaped her and she leaned her head back on the small sofa, one arm lay over her eyes. "I really do hate you going in to see and follow those people when you shouldn't have to."

"It's my choice, and I have no problem with it."

"Well I do!" Again she stood and sped over to him until they were face to face, she craned her head up so she could look him in the eye. She cursed being a bit on the short side and him being so tall.

"You shouldn't, it's not your affair," he said coolly, she screamed inside. Then she let it out.

"Not my affair?! Not my affair when you tried to get me to join that horrible gang of dark wizards?! Not mine when I saved your life by helping you join with Dumbledore and become a double agent and a position at Hogwarts? How can it not be my affair when I've done so much for you, with you?" Her breath came in short gasps, her eyes lit up in a deadly glow that was no trick of the light. They truly had become a bright blue that emanated the power of her anger.

"Calm yourself, Belle," he tried to soothe her, "you can't risk that here when you're in danger." One of his hands shakily brushed back her totally loose hair, they other covered her bright irises.

"How can I be calm when you're being so difficult?" He felt hot tears on the part of his hand on her face, something she had not done since her youth, cried.

"I only can be what I am, and I am that for your own good," he took his hand away when the glowing stopped showing through his fingers. With her looking at him so helplessly he felt like a timid teenager again, he simply didn't know what to do.

"How can you going back to that wicked man all the time be for my own good? I did what I had to do by finding and ruining Le Strange and her lackeys and putting them in Azkaban. That I can live with, but having Voldemort come for me now when I have Harry to protect is...." she trailed off.

"Don't worry about Potter, he can take care of himself, he's defeated him every year in a row so far. I wouldn't worry that much."

"How can you be so cold?"

Disclaimer: Only Bluebelle is mine. So how was it? Good, bad, ugly I need to know here. Well I think things will be quicker as time goes by, I have a new computer now so that means the writing should ensue on a more even schedule. Sorry about the formatting, I have to use a friend's computer to log in and update, it must have done something to it. So what is going on in all your heads? Is it about dear Sevi and Belle? If so I can promise all you who have figured a certain something out that the next chappie will bring you back to Hogwarts in the 70's to see exactly what happened between them. Until then bye byes!

Pirate-Girl1017


	4. Secret's Revealed

The Secret Auror 

**By: Pirate-Girl1017**

**Chapter 4**

Harry sat beside the door and nearly fell over when something furry pushed against his leg, he had to put his hand over his mouth to keep from screaming. But when he looked down the thing that hit him just purred and pushed its puffy head on his leg again. A little black and white cat with huge golden eyes starred up at him, he slowly began to pet its head. He saw a collar around its neck and looked at the purple heart shaped tag there, **Puffy**, was written there in a flowing gold script. Suddenly the feline stared meowing, loudly.

"What was that?" he heard Snape ask from inside.

"It must be Puffy, I'll go get her," footsteps came close to the door. He scrambled to get to his feet, but the cat ran around under them. Finally he managed to stuff himself under the stairs, ironically in a cupboard, a rather stuffy one really. He could see through a tiny grate near his head as the tow people in the salon came out, one looking around blankly, the other picking up the cat and cooing softly to it.

"How's my little baby," Bluebelle buried her face in the cats fur. "Have you been a good girl while mummy's been away?" Snape rolled his eyes at the sickeningly sweet sight. The little feline turned its attention to him, and he just happened to be close enough to have its sandpaper like tongue running over his hand.

"What is it doing?"

"She's showing that she likes you," she giggled.

"I must be going, I still have homework to make for my third year class."

"Sure you do," she sat her pet down again. "You can tell me the truth, Severus, of any one you can tell me."

"I don't have time at the moment, I'll see you at work, good night." He turned to leave, then stopped. "Oh, and remind your nephew that he has Occlumency lessons with me starting on Wednesday," he let himself out the door. She ran a hand through her messy hair and went into the kitchen. Harry gently opened the door to his hiding place and snuck back up the stairs to his room. What he had heard shocked him to the bone. She was in terrible danger now, Voldemort was after them both now. That marking Lupin talked about must be her scars, and she didn't tell any one about them. Apparently Snape didn't know about them either or he would have done or said something about them, Harry was sure about it.

Sow what could he do about it?

He had defeated the Dark Lord seven times already, but now what? It wasn't just him **he** was after any more. Just how powerful was Bluebelle Evans anyway? A bright light had come from under and around the salon doors when he had sat there. He wondered if she had done that. So she had put away Bellatrix and her sidekicks into Azkaban, that was pretty good for a single person to do. How did she do that?

Meanwhile the object of Harry's rampant thoughts was sitting on her kitchen counter sipping a very strong tea laced with brandy. Her long night gown and robe sleeves were rolled up to her shoulders, (all which she had conjured up the second she came into the room) she stared at her arms as she drank. Long, white, slashing lines criss-crossed over pale flesh and continued toward the rest of her body in the shape of hissing reptiles. She sighed and downed half her cup. She knew each path by heart, each crossing and each shape over her skin. In some places it looked like a map of a complex city, others the openings made out the shape of skulls breathing out even more serpents. **He** had really marked her with those.

Puffy slept on her lap, happy to have her mistress back. Skippy was curled up on her miniature bed in front of the fireplace. She knew Harry was in his bed, probably dreaming of Quidditch and Cho Chang. Everything seemed in perfect order in her home, but she knew it wouldn't last. She recalled the prediction made by Professor Trelawney that day at school. The woman barely got anything right in her art or in real life for that matter, but still she couldn't help but want to know more about it, it somehow rang true in her case. She just didn't know how yet.

With a final gulp she finished her drink and set it into the sink, Skippy would get it in the morning. What she wanted right now was sleep. She picked Puffy up and cradled the little furry creature in her arms like one would a baby and brought her with her to her bedroom. The cat settled itself on the edge of the four poster and was asleep again in no time. Her owner on the other hand went to the window. She lent her forehead on the glass pane and sighed, that feeling had come over her again.

A hand rubbed itself over her eyes, and came away wet. She didn't want to cry, she hated crying as much as she hated the predicament she was in. But how could he be so cold to her? The thought was pushed from her mind when she yawned and realized how tired she actually was. The blankets were a warm comfort as she buried her head in the soft pillow.

The nest time Harry was at school he had a million thoughts going through his head. But the most prominent was the after classes activity that was planned for him.

Occlumency.

His feet seemed to becoming glued to the floor with each step he took towards the dungeons. When he finally arrived at the office of the Potions Master he felt cold all over, and it wasn't the ever-present chill of the lower level. The last lesson he had in that room had ended noting less then terribly. He grabbed the knob and went inside, Snape was waiting for him. The pensive was on the table in a far corner as it was last time, the room was as cold as ever and the teacher still wore the same scowl. He had just finished pulling long, silvery liquid strands by his wand from his head and dropping them into the large bowl next to him.

"I want to be here as much as you do, Potter, so I suggest that you try not to repeat the failure we had last year. Am I perfectly clear?"

"Yes, sir," he replied numbly. All he got back was a cold glare.

"I have to send something out in the Owlery, you were early for once, but it seems at a bad time. Do not touch anything." And Harry was alone. It figures the one time in his life he was on time for one of Snape's lessons he would have to start late anyway. The marble pensive caught his eye, and he felt drawn to it. Standing over the huge bowl was a mistake, leaning towards the swirling, glittering mass of slime was even worse. Not pulling away from the tell tale feel of entering a memory should have had him wanting to leap headfirst towards the whomping willow.

_He found himself in the same room, and it was still a classroom but it seemed newer, like it had just been furnished to be used. All the tables were empty, not even the teacher was sitting at the large desk at the front of the chamber. Then he saw some one, a thin gangly boy at the back of the room. Shoulder length black hair hung over his arms as he read from a thick volume of advanced potion making._

_He was seeing Snape as a student, again. But he looked younger then the last time, certainly not a fifth year like the one that had been strung upside down by James Potter. This one might have been one to two years younger, he wasn't near as tall as he was in Harry's time._

_Suddenly the door to the room opened and a strawberry blonde girl came inside, she carried a tray of food in one hand, a bag of books in the other._

"_You're that far already?" she asked._

"_I'm a fast reader."_

"_Obviously." The girl sat the things on the table next to Snape, pulled up and started eating a sandwich she had brought. She was pretty enough with hair that barely grazed her shoulders that was a riot of tumbling curls, barely tamer then Hermione's. Her uniform was almost all removed, Harry saw the bright sun outside so it must have been a hot day; she wore just her white dress shirt and gray skirt. _

_She too was young, a second or first year._

"_What are we doing today?" she asked._

"_Temporary camouflage," he answered. Step by the step the memories made the potion and finally it was done. In the mean time their unknown visitor was looking around the room. A clock on the wall said it was two in the afternoon, a calendar with the dates gone by indicated it was a Saturday in May. He also saw the year, 1977. So the two at the table were probably doing weekend homework, but who ever would want to do schoolwork with his future teacher was beyond him._

_Or maybe it wasn't._

"_It's finished."_

"_Good, now we need to test it," the girl looked through the glass tube the potion was in. "How do we do that?"_

"_Well, one of us has to drink it, obviously."_

"_Really?" she swirled it around. "I'll do it." _

"_Are you sure?"_

"_Yep," and she downed the whole thing before he cold stop her. Her face turned inside out and she clutched at her stomach then fell off her chair, her feet flying in the air. A puff of light green smoke came up from where she landed followed by strange fizzing sound. "Ow."_

"_Did it work," he waved the fog away as best he could. Harry leaned over the desk, trying to see what had happened. Then again the door to the classroom opened and a red haired girl in Gryffindor robes came in. It was his mother, Lily. "What do you want?"_

"_I'm looking for my sister, Sirius said she came in here to meet you, again." A hand clasped the edge of table and the girl who had drank the potion came up holding the back of her neck, only now she had a full head of bright aqua colored hair. "Bluebelle! What happened?!"_

"_Huh?" Well, he knew how she got her trademark, and his mum didn't look to pleased about it._

"_What did you do to her?"_

"_I didn't do anything, she offered to test it."_

"_What are you two going on about?" Bluebelle looked at the strand of hair between her fingers and screamed. "Severus! Change it back!" Again a new person came into the room and Harry felt a hard pull at his heart, a young, handsome, alive Sirius barged in._

"_I knew she was with you Snivell- Oh my god what happened to your hair Belle?!"_

"_Will you stop calling me that! And it's none of your business what I do with my hair. Come on Severus," she grabbed him by the arm and they left the room in record time._

_The area went pure white as that memory faded and another began._

_This time he was in the courtyard, the sun was setting and many students were going inside. A lone figure sat on bench plaiting its hair. It was his aunt again, only she was older now, her blue tresses longer and her slender body now visible without the little baby fat from her younger years. A tall, sallow, young man sat down next to her, another good looking one Harry could see was hiding behind some bushes._

"_What are you gonna do now that you've finished school?" she said as she unbraided and re braided a lock of hair._

"_I don't know," he shrugged. His hand scratched his lower, right arm where the Dark Mark would be in the present. But for some reason he thought it might already be there. "I do have an idea, but..."he trailed off._

"_But what? You've been out for a year now and you haven't done anything?"_

"_Can you come some where with me?"_

"_Sure, when?"_

"_Now." They stood and walked out, him leading her for a change, Sirius trailing behind. Black stopped behind column and yanked something from his bag, James' invisibility cloak, and put it on. As much as it hurt to see his godfather, even in memory (which meant Snape had known Sirius was there) he was too curious to just stand there. He had time until his lessons began, the Owlery was on the other side of the school._

_Eventually they stopped, in the start of the Forbidden Forest, Sirius had faded from the thought and Bluebelle looked bewildered._

"_What are we doing here?"_

"_I heard your sister saying you wanted to be an auror after you leave school. Is that true?"_

"_Yeah, but what does that have to do with bringing me here? Dumbledore will have me expelled for being here." Snape hissed under his breath and scratched his arm again. "Is something wrong?"_

"_I've found some people, Belle, people who understand me. They want to change the world for the better. I can have whatever I want, you can to, just come see them with me tonight." She gave him a suspicious look and bit her bottom lip as she scuffed her foot on the ground._

"_I don't know..."_

"_Please?" He reached out and held her hands in his, she blushed and looked tentatively up at him._

"_Who are these people, are they with the Ministry or something?"_

"_They're more powerful then the Ministry, or at least they will be soon enough. And they need powerful witches and wizards to help them."_

"_Help them with what?"_

"_To fix this world," he stepped closer to her and she turned and even deeper red. "I know you are a powerful witch, we need you."_

"_How could they fix the world? No small group could do that, muggles live here too, not just magic folk."_

"_That's what they'll fix," he said. _

"_Why would that need fixing?" Her face was starting to show she understood what he meant, and was both afraid and upset. "My parents are muggles, remember?"_

"_They don't deserve such a witch in their family, they already have a non magical daughter, let them keep her. You belong with your own kind." He seemed to become more desperate with each word, like he had to get her to believe him no matter what._

"_This isn't like you," she tried to pull away._

"_No, listen to me," he brought her back to him so hard she was pressed right against him. They stared at one another in the eye for some time. "It's for your own good."_

_He couldn't take it anymore, Harry pulled out._

Deep, raged breaths came from him as he sat down on the first chair he could find. The same words from the night in Bluebelle's house had happened before, Snape had tried to get her to join Voldemort. He thought it was for her own good. All of it made no sense to him, why would Snape want her to join when all Voldemort wanted were pure bloods? What did he mean by they could have whatever they wanted? It had to be some sick promise the Dark Lord made to any one he could get to join forces with him.

It seemed he pulled out just in time because just then his tutor came back, whatever he needed sent done with.

"Ready, Potter?"

"Yes, sir."

The hour went slower then anything Harry had ever done in his life, even slower then watching Dudley run from the couch to the refrigerator. And the second the torture was over he made a beeline for Bluebelle's rooms. The door was surprisingly unlocked, he could see the cat from the cottage curled up on a plush chair in front of the fireplace as he pushed his way in. The person he was looking for was lounging on a couch, a bottle of near empty wine in her hand and two others laying next to her.

"Aunt, are you all right?"

"Hmm," she sat up slightly and blinked as if she couldn't get him into focus. "Oh, Harry it's you." She tired to stand but stumbled and nearly fell on a small coffee table. "Yes, I'm fine, never better," she tripped and fell on a footstool.

"You've been drinking," he winced as she fell again. "And it looks like you've had about enough," he helped her to her bed and took the alcohol from her.

"No, I'm-hic- fine really," she hiccuped.

"I wanted to talk to you about something but I think I'll wait until tomorrow," he pulled the covers over her.

"Sure thing 'Arry," and she promptly passed out. He decided that the best thing to do was go to Madame Pomfery and ask for a hang over hang over potion so that his drunk relative wouldn't have to hold her head al through her classes. The school nurse was a little apprehensive to give a student such a remedy but when he told her whom it was for she gave it to him without any more questions. He also heard her mumbling something along the lines of 'not again, that man has to get it sooner or later.'

Harry had a vague idea who she was talking about. So he left the bottle of odd smelling purple liquid on her bedstead and went back to his dormitory.

The next day Bluebelle woke to her head feeling like it was splitting in half from the inside, or like an army of goblins was trying to break in. She clutched at it and noticed the hollow bottle of red wine on the floor and the flask of Brandywine's All-Purpose Headache Remover. Quickly she grabbed the medicine and drank most of it down, it seemed she was good at that. The clothes she had had on the day before clung to her and smelled strongly of liqueur, she pulled them off and hurried to her bathroom. Then she grabbed a fresh dress and cloak from her closet and pulled her hair into a quick bun.

By the time she reached her classroom she was extremely late, Professor Snape had taken her place.

"Professor Evans, good morning," he said in his ever cool voice.

"Good morning, sorry for my lateness, I wasn't feeling very well earlier and couldn't seem to get out of bed."

"Yes, I was informed of that," he stood from his seat behind her desk and made for the door. "Meet me in my office during lunch, Belle, we need to talk," he whispered in her ear as he walked past her. She nodded and went to work.

The lesson was sluggish and went by with an interruption every few minutes. More paper balls flew across the room, and several students in several classes wanted to know why she had been so late. A rumor was going around that she was a bit too friendly with one of the male teachers, Draco asked her about that in the middle of class.

"Professor Evans, is it true that you're Professor Snape's new girlfriend?"

"Mr. Malfoy, did you know you have a weeks worth of detention with Mr. Filch," she replied without looking up from her role book. On top of that it seemed that Amethyst Pierce had tried out the wishing away a person to the goblins, even though she had been told the monarchy there didn't need any more of the pesky vermin.

Well maybe that was just a little bit exaggerated.

So now she had to write to the goblin King of all people to ask for Neville Longbottom back. Even her younger classes were trouble, they had absolutely no idea what had been gone over three days before and were obviously not studying. So she had to go over the entire material again, and heaven knew how much she hated having to go on about Cornish pixies. One Hufflepuff girl even tried to ask if some could be brought in. One teacher had done that before she came to the school and she wanted to pet one. Bluebelle nearly went through the ceiling, she knew who had done that little number, met him on several occasions and the loony had the audacity to try and giver her advice on how to ward off werewolves.

No, it was not a good day what so ever.

By the time lunch had come she couldn't have been more thankful. She all but ran down the halls and when the sight of Snape's office came up in front of her she felt like she had won a million gallions.

"Severus, you there?"

"In here," he called from a small room filled with glass jars containing things she'd rather not name.

"What did you want to talk about?" He emerged and sat on his desk, an unlikely thing when you think about it, he was upset about something that she could be sure of.

"When I was giving Potter his Occlumency lessons last night I came across something in his head that I found rather odd," he looked down at her over his pointed nose.

"And that would be..."

"Scarring, on your body, the reason why you never show near as much flesh as you used to."

"I did get older, Severus, maybe I just don't want to be wearing the most revealing thing on the market anymore. And I don't have **that** many scars." She crossed her arms over her chest and examined a chart on the flow of poison through a human beings body. Not a picture she would normally want to stare at, but it was the closest thing to her.

"I would beg to differ," he stood and walked over to her so that they were inches apart. "If you don't have do many markings then let me see your arm." She did nothing. "If you don't show me Belle I'll look on my own," again she stood stock-still. His hand lashed out and dragged her sleeve up her arm to her elbow and untied the skintight glove under it and threw that to the floor. Thick and thin white tissue ran up the length of her limb, weaving around one another like small rivers. Upon closer inspection he could see that they were all snakes.

"Are you happy now?" she hissed.

"Is this what Lupin meant when he said that you were marked? Not in the Dark Lord's mind but in your own skin?"

"Yes, he wanted to make sure I was noticeable," her voice had dropped all it's emotion and became coldly monotone.

"Why did you never tell me?" Fierce blue eyes bored into his, a fire seeming to burn inside them.

"For your own good," she snatched away her arm and held it to her breast like a wounded animal would. "If you had any inkling about these **he** might have picked it up in your mind. Then you would be the one punished for keeping the information. Does that make sense to you?"

"Belle that is no reason not to tell me-"

"Then what is?" Suddenly she couldn't remember why she had been so happy to come here in the first place.

"I knew you put away Le Strange and the others, but how did you get those?"

"I got them after I put her away, and I got caught. They wanted to make sure that if I was ever found again that they would know who I was."

"Are there more?"

"How much of me is covered up? That's how many more."

"I wish you would have told me, Belle, I could have helped you when it happened."

"You were still trying to break away when it happened, so I wouldn't bother worrying about it," she started to leave but he grabbed her wrist.

"Is there no way to heal it?" He was being much more kind then he had ever been since she had returned, it was hard not to grin at the change.

"No, only Voldemort can take them away." He sighed and let her go, turning away from her, she sighed too, an exasperated sigh. "What's the matter now?" she asked as she picked up her glove.

"Nothing."

"Tell me," she implored. He slumped his shoulder and faced her again, he seemed to age right in front of her, he seemed so weary, so tired much past the thirty-seven years that he had.

"You've been put through so much because of me, and now I have this on my conscience, it's all beginning to be too much." She laid a hand on his shoulder and leaned her head next to it, surprisingly he didn't push her away.

"It's tiring for me too, I just want to lay down at home and not worry about any of this war. All I want is to relax, raise my nephew and pretend this isn't happening." One of his cold hands rested over hers and gripped her fingers gently. "And I want you to be happy, Severus, that's what I've wanted the most for over twenty years."

"I know, Bluebelle, I know," and he held her hand tighter and rested his head on hers.

**Disclaimer:** You get idea by now. Should I go a teensy bit father in the next bit with the lovebirds? I need to know or else they may not ever get together. Oh and Nadine? Fuck off. I can't control what the site does to my formatting it was fine when I tried to update and freaked up when it got there. I know it does that **it has happened before**. And yes I am gonna keep the name Bluebelle because I happen to like it and I don't care that you don't.


	5. Attacks

The Secret Auror 

**By: Pirate-Girl1017**

**Chapter 5**

She didn't know how long she was there, but it really didn't matter, she had what she had wanted. And that thing was his affection, however brief, and now the wait seemed worth it. When he did let her hand out of his grip she took a step back and gazed around her.

"That was all I wanted to discuss, you should be heading back. Do you not have a class after lunch?" He returned to the cold and formal potions master the school knew so well.

"Yes, I do, I'll be seeing you around," she turned to leave.

"Good day," he shut the door behind her. Alone again in the dank hallways of the dungeons she took a deep breath and started up the stairs to the main hall. She never saw the pair of steely eyes watching her from in the shadows.

The second the final bell rang she headed right for the Quidditch field, her Nimbus 2001clutched tightly in her hand and over her shoulder. The thrill of flying would ease her tangled and irritated nerves. As she lifted off on the old broom she let the pins and ties out of her hair and let it flow freely as she rose higher and higher. The wind trailed in and out of her robes, the force made her eyes water but it was part of the experience she loved so much.

Days spent in practice on the Ravenclaw team were life to her at one time, like any player she wanted to be the one to win the House Quidditch Cup. And even though she never did it was nice to think she had brought them in second place many a time. But then her mind turned to Lily, her beautiful older sister that she had helped cause the death of. The broom swerved as she lost her concentration. Lily's gorgeous wine hair, falling in perfect curls, her blazing and brilliant emerald eyes that sparkled when she laughed. And her curvy figure that always had the Gryffindor boys flocking after her.

She was smart, pretty, full of wit and popular. Everything Bluebelle had never been in school. She had been gangly, thin to the bone she thought at times and flat chested through almost all of her years there. Her hair had been a dull blond, not brown, not red and not gold, no nothing special about it, especially when it could have substituted for Hermione Grangers. All in all she had no idea how Sirius Black could have fallen for her, but alas he did. The poor boy must have hit his one too many times going through the secret passages under the castle.

She shook her head and curved around a turret holding seats for the spectators and decided she didn't want to review any more memories, but they still came.

Lily was everything she had ever wanted to be, and she had failed her so miserably. It was torture to love and admire her sister who could have what the younger one desired the most.

"No," she muttered under her breath, "I won't think about it."

Lily had the one thing she could never have, Severus' love. It had always been painfully obvious that he had feelings for her, one of the reasons that James Potter made fun of him so much. And no matter what she did he never looked at her as anything more then a friend or sister. Granted he was lonely, and not many people in his own house noticed him it was natural that he would fall for the girl who publicly defended him. Bluebelle had always done so behind the scenes, afraid he wouldn't accept her help with her being so much younger then him.

The only time he had made her think he could ever return her affection was that one time after he had left school and come back to visit her. He had acted so strange that day, and later she would realize that was right after he had joined with the dark forces.

Absently she flew her broom around the towers of the castle, looking in a window to see happy students fooling around or doing homework together. Once she saw Ron and Hermione studying in the library, sitting closer then usual. Neville was sulking in a hallway, he'd obviously forgotten the password to his common room again. Parvoti and Lavender were giggling around a corner spying on Firenz the centaur that taught Devination. All in all the setting was peaceful and light the opposite of her mind at the moment.

The troublesome thoughts were stealing away the ability she had to control her broomstick so she descended and came to the conclusion that a walk around the grounds was a good choice.

The trees of the Forbidden Forest loomed in front of her, a memory and a threat came to her. Snape was never the same after the day he had brought her there, the warm and kind boy he hid from every one but her was buried away. And here, she had learned that He Who Shall Not Be Named slaughtered and drank the blood of unicorns. Not the best place to be, but maybe if she just walked along the outskirts it would be all right.

Her fingers traveled along the finely polished wood handle of the Nimbus and rested on the golden emblem written on it.

"Petunia always said I would kill myself on one of these," she chuckled emotionlessly.

"_Come to me, my child,"_ a voice whispered in her ear. She shot around, but no one was there. _"You do not belong in this place, you are too gifted for these fools."_

"Who's there? Show yourself coward!" Her wand was in her hand before she even knew she had reached for it and the broom was dropped to the dew covered ground. A chill from the autumn wind penetrated her thick cloak and bit at her flesh. But the eerie voice did not come back.

In fact it didn't for some time, and she almost forgot about it, until the Christmas and New Years break came around. She was talking to Harry in her sitting room when he brought up something that jarred her.

"Have you been hearing anything strange, lately?" he blurted out and she choked on the biscuit she was eating.

"What do you mean? Rumors?"

"No, I-I've been hearing something in my head, and it's not the first time it's happened." He turned his face down, not knowing if she would take him seriously.

"What kind of something?"

"A man's voice, a hissing sort of like a snake," he ate a biscuit himself.

"And this has happened before?" he only nodded. "I heard it too, but it was over a month ago, but no one was there. What is it? I know you know."

"Voldemort, he talked to me before. Why aren't those Occlumency lessons stopping him? Shouldn't they?"

"Harry, the lessons don't do anything unless you do something with them. Occlumency is very hard, no body can get it overnight," she paused. "I don't want to think about him okay? Concentrate on your mind blocking skills, you need to do that."

"What about you? How can he talk to you?"

"I told you I had a bad run in with him before," she didn't tell him anymore and sent him to his dormitory. Then came to the decision to tell Dumbledore about what was going on.

The huge golden gargoyle stepped aside when she said the password ('peppermint fudge') and she accended onto the rotating stairs. The Head Master was sitting at his desk petting Fawkes on his glowing head.

"Good evening, Professor Evans," he greeted. "What can I do for you?"

"Good evening, Albus," she paused. "Harry said he's been hearing strange noises in his head, a snake like voice. He thinks its Voldemort, and I heard once too, back in November when I was walking the grounds." The white wizard nodded and stood, his long white trailing behind him, his beard having to be picked up when he moved. He hadn't changed since she had first met him. And even as she continued to speak to him about the odd hisses she and her nephew heard his blue eyes gleamed as though he knew a secret she didn't.

"Yes, young Harry told me last night about his knew hearing problem, and from what you say it is painfully clear that you two are related."

"HeadMaster…" What was that supposed to mean?

"He was just as worried about you as you are about him," he laughed. "Of course though he was convinced that Professor Snape was some how behind it, but that of course is nothing new. Do not worry about this whole affair, I have it under control so far. Your little relative is also a parseltongue and I know that from his past experiences. But I do not take it lightly and will look further into it."

"Thank you, Professor Dumbledore," she stuttered. As much as the man was lovable, he really spoke in too many riddles.

"Any time," he smiled and opened the door for her and returned to petting his bird. Why did that man always have to talk in riddles? None of that made any sense to her, so she just went back to her room. As she laid on her bed down her mind was jumbled with the little bit she had been told. She never knew Harry was a parselmouth, he hadn't told her. There was so much she still didn't know about him despite being able to read parts of him like an open book.

The she held up her arm into the fading light of the sun and pulled her glove off, and stared at the winding snakes going up her arm. The rest of them marred her, an ever-present reminder of her encounter with the dark lord who was the cause of all her suffering. She shook her head, this was no time to be thinking about things like that, and she had more important task to do then worry about some slime ball like him.

As she sat down at her desk to write for the return of Neville she pet Puffy on behind her ears and chewed on the feather tip of her quill. It didn't taste very good and fluffy particles kept getting in her teeth but she tried her best to ignore that. The King of the Goblins was not a very patient man, and if she didn't word her letter just right she might loose a student. May not a very import one that nearly destroyed her classroom on more then one occasion, but a student none the less. And poor Mr. Longbottom didn't need to be turned into a goblin, that had already happened once in class and he stated that he didn't like it one bit.

So for the next hour and a half she sat in front of her paper and threw any reject piece as close as she could to the opening of the trash can without looking. When she was finally satisfied she let her owl, Ebony, out of her cage and told her where to go to change dimensions and who to give the letter to. Once that was done she really had absolutely no idea what to do.

Then her deprived mind thought of something. Christmas shopping. She still had some odds and ends to tie up and a stroll through Hogsmead always cheered her up. So she grabbed her cloak and headed out the door, a sack of money in her hands.

As she walked through the streets of Hogsmead she held a list before her. A store with a bright sign that read 'Quality Quidditch Supplies' caught her attention. Harry had mentioned that his playing robes were starting to get tight on him in almost every spot imaginable.

He'd even been as nice as to give her his size.

So she stepped into the shoppe and looked around at what they had to offer. One side was strictly for girls, the other for boys. She walked to latter and examined the merchandise. Rows upon rows of robes of every color and size one could think of lined the wall and hung from racks on the floor. They were arranged by shade and went according to the order of the rainbow, when she found red there were twenty different tints to choose from. For some time she simply took her time searching for the correct color. Finally she found it, now she had to hunt down the pants, gloves and sweater.

As she ran through the selection of pants she heard a familiar voice from the other side of the aisle.

"No mother, I said I wanted emerald green, not forest green."

"Well I'm sorry Draco dear but they're out of emerald, this was the closest they had."

"I don't care! How can I go back to school and play and not even have my house colors right? What would Amethyst think if I showed up in a forest green robe instead of emerald to play?"

"I really don't think she would notice if you were up on your broom." Bluebelle looked over the rack and saw Narcissa Malfoy trying to convince her son that it was impossible to tell the two greens apart when you were fifty feet in the air. When Draco turned around she ducked, having a conversation with that family at the moment was not on the top of her to-do list.

But apparently fate had it in store for her anyway.

"Ah, Professor Evans, what a pleasant surprise," Narcissa said from behind her.

"Mrs. Malfoy," she greeted with a curt nod.

"And what, pray tell are you doing here?"

"Shopping, the same as you," she started going through the clothes once more. The blond woman nodded then whispered something in her boys ear before they both left the rack and stood at the clerk's counter with the forest green robe. She did the same as they walked out of the store. As she paid for the presents she felt a presence at her back and swiftly craned her neck to see what it was.

Lucius stood there.

"Mr. Malfoy, you just missed your family."

"I know, I just saw them outside, I simply needed to talk with you for a moment." The sales clerk wrapped up her packages and she threw a handful of galleons onto the table and made for the door.

"I'm a busy woman, I've got a lot of things to do."

"I only have to say that you might want to get something for those voices you've been hearing, it's not healthy you know." She stared at him, her face blank showing no emotion, inside she panicked.

"What are you talking about?"

"I think you know what I mean," he began to pass her but stopped next to her, his mouth by her ear. "You may want to watch what you say when you think no one else is around but you and your friends, especially certain other professors." Then he was gone.

She stood there, not wanting to know what he meant by that, afraid even of what he implied.

Could it be that he knew about her talks with Severus? But that was impossible, no one but her, the man himself, Harry and Dumbledore. With hurried steps she left the building and made for the square so she could catch a carriage to the castle. After dropping off her parcels in her rooms she went once more to the headmaster's office. He was waiting at his desk as always, like he knew she was coming.

"Hello my dear, sit down," he gestured to the chair across from the desk. "What is troubling you?"

"Lucius Malfoy said something to me today while I was buying Harry's Christmas present." When he nodded she continued in what sounded like a school kids complaint of 'he said she said.' "I think he's onto me."

"I thought that might happen, but I didn't think so soon. What do you think he knows?"

"That I've been telling Severus things, but he couldn't know that. I've only talked about my past in my home or here. He couldn't know."

"But he does have eyes and ears in the school since he was fired as a supervisor."

"Draco?"

"Exactly, I'm afraid he is rather like his parents in that context."

"Then, what am I supposed to do? The students will be back in a matter of weeks, and he'll be with them. What do I do?"

"Stay at home for now, I'll think of something in the mean time. I also suggest that you send word to the other aurors as soon as you can. Have them know what is going on and form a plan of action from there."

"But, what about Harry?" Albus stroked his long, gray beard in thought and looked around the office as though something invisible was floating around and only he could see it. "Headmaster?"

"Take him with you or send him to stay with his friend Ron, he does so enjoy visiting the Weasleys." She nodded and excused herself. As she walked the long corridors to her rooms she ran the events of the last half-hour go through her mind.

Why did this have to happen now? Just when she thought life could go back to normal everything that could go wrong does. The Malfoys were on her back, Voldemort hated her with a passion and could well be closer then she thought, Harry was her responsibility now more so then ever. And now she had to have another meeting of aurors in her home again?

"I hate my life," she mumbled as she walked. Well then if that was what she had to do then that was what she had to do. She sat down at her desk and pulled out a quill, ink and paper. One by she addressed and wrote letters to each of the wizards who had been at her home earlier that year and sent them all together with her owl. It was late that night when she finally finished having redone many of them due to loss of words. As she climbed into bed she had the strangest feeling of foreboding.

The feeling that something was about to happen. This feeling hadn't come since the night before Lily and James had been killed. All through the nightmares plagued her unconscious mind. They were all memories of the past night sixteen years ago she had walked through the ruins of her sisters house to find her and her brother in law dead. Several times she woke with sweat coating her like a second skin and her lungs laboring for each breath.

Lily's dead eyes still stared up at her behind her eyelids whenever she closed them. The Ministry workers still hauled her family's bodies away in her dreams.

Everything seemed to be going against her at the moment. She darted out of bed and pulled out her paper and quill again.

_Dear Harry,_

_This is very sudden for me as well as it must be for you. But I will be going away for a while, I don't know exactly how long I will be our what exactly I will be doing. But I do know that I will be at home. Your presents are in my closet, do not open them until Christmas, I doubt I will be back by then. Be careful._

_Love you_

_Aunt Belle_

"What is she doing?" Harry reread the letter for the third time.

"You're asking us?" Ron asked.

"We have to trust her," Hermione said from the inside of a book.

Meanwhile the subject of their conversation was looking into a mirror at her reflection, or what was supposed to be her reflection. Those camouflage potions she learned as a kid had come in handy many a time just as they did now. Blue hair had become black, pale skin had been instantly tanned, blue eyes were now green and her entire face was an entirely different shape.

But it was only temporary.

Her friend Tonks had lent her some tips on such disguises. Said friend was currently preparing herself in front of a full-length mirror in a guest bedroom for the mission set for that night. Mad Eye Moody and Remus were down in the parlor waiting for them, their own disguises already done.

As they decended down the stairs at last Tonks nudged her shoulder.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she replied.

"That look ain't nothing. Tell me what's wrong."

"I just regret leaving Harry so soon, he's grown enough not to need an adult but maybe I should have told him what's going on tonight."

"Don't worry about it, you've been in a million raids before. You'll be back behind your desk lecturing on about the danger of waking up a Cyclops before you know it."

Lupin and Mad Eye looked at them strangely as they giggled out the door like schoolgirls.

"I'll never understand women," muttered the older man.

"I don't think any of us ever will," answered the other.

In a dark, dank glen in the center of a deep forest a group of black cloaked people were forming a circle around a tall gaunt figure. The figure in the center turned its head as each person apperated into the glen and observed as they took their place in the group.

"All is going well, Master, almost everyone is here," one figure whispered to the apparent leader.

"Good," the man said in a wizened voice. "Has my spy arrived yet?"

"I believe that he just did sir." Both turned to see the last of the arrivals took his spot.

"Go see why he hasn't been at our last few gatherings."

"Of course sir," and he left to do the task appointed to him. He crossed the glen until he stood face to face with Voldemort's spy.

"Severus, good evening," he greeted.

"Good evening Lucius," he greeted back.

"Lord Voldemort wishes to know why you haven't been present at the previous meetings."

"I have been busy, it is as simple as that."

"To busy to come when our Lord calls to us? I find that oddly not like yourself." Snape stiffened a little then straitened his shoulders before staring the man in front of him in the eyes.

"I seem to remember you not being at meeting at times as well Lucius. I fail to see how I can be reprimanded for the same offense when you do not."

"I am not supposed to be acting as a double agent at the school the enemy happens to run." They glared at one another as the other Death Eaters were called to another section of the field. The Dark Lord seemed not to notice the two men looking so intently at one another as though they planned to curse the other at any moment.

"I do believe that we should be joining the group."

"Not yet we don't," Malfoy lowered his voice dangerously. "My son has told me he overheard you talking with a woman behind locked doors not too long ago. I also happened upon an old acquaintance at the Quidditch shop, Bluebelle Evans to be precise. If memory serves me right she was the younger sister of Lily Evans, Harry Potter's mother."

"That shouldn't surprise you, she used to play Quidditch."

"She also used to be an auror, a rather good one too. Draco told me she teaches now. Is that true?"

"And if it is?"

"I would have thought that you would not keep such interesting information to yourself."

"What one auror does with their retirement is none of my concern."

"Even if you fancied her at one time?" The silence that came upon them would have the made the sound of a germ screaming seem like an airoplane landing. "What would you be doing speaking to this woman in secret?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, young Malfoy must have been mistaken in what he says he heard."

"That seems not very likely as close as you two used to be," Lucius returned his tone to normal. "Shall we then?"

"Indeed."

"Oh, and Severus," he murmered, "if you don't watch yourself carefully the news might just get out that you're having illicite relationships with the enemy." Snape said nothing after that but proceeded to join the small gathering of Death Eaters. Far into the meeting something blasted one of the cloaked figures in the back making him scream out in pain then fly across the glen.

Four people rushed into the field, wands drawn, hitting down any Death Eater that came toward them. The woman next to Snape hissed under her breath and threw back her hood, letting her white streaked black hair free and rushed at another female auror. He turned to see the view around him, counting how many dark wizards were either fighting or fleeing.

Voldemort had already dissapeared, Malfoy with him.

Some of his followers, more like most of them actually, were lying on the ground motionless, others still fought. He pulled his hood farther over his head and began retreating into the forest when he heard something familiar.

"_Rictusempra_!" A dark haired woman hit a man with her spell, he fell over wheezing for breath as though his lungs were about to collapse. Her magic was far more powerful than the normal witch was. Again she cried out an incantation, her face blank of all emotion, her mind apparently focused on nothing but fighting and defeating the problem laid before her. Her voice was what he knew, he'd know that voice anywhere.

"_Serpensortia_!" Bellatrix sent a venomous snake out form the tip of her wand at the powerful witch who was taking down three opponents at once. After casting the spell the wild looking woman called her remaining companions to retreat and those left standing apperated away. Just as he vanished Snape saw the snake open its mouth and plunge its fangs into its victims ankle.

Lupin looked over just in time to see the serpent detach its teeth from her leg, she sank to her knees holding her bleeding appendage. As she sat there her appearance faded away until she was her normal self again.

"_Finite Incantatem_," he shouted and the snake turned into ashes.

He rushed over to her side and gently removed her hand so he could examine her wound. The veins around the puncture marks were already turning green, the flesh around it was changing into a nasty purple.

"How is it," she asked through grinding teeth.

"It could be better," he told her. Tonks and Moody were now sitting next to her, grimicing at the harsh wound. "We have to get you back home, we can take care of this there." She nodded and let them lift her to her feet, the second she put weight on her left foot she saw white spots and felt dizzy as the world started to spin.

Disclaimer: (insert basic I own nothing speech) Guess what everybody? I just got a new, flat screen, XP computer that can let me log in again! No more having to use my friends, hers just got my old problem of not letting her log in anyway. So as soon as I finish my homework, studying and chores I'll be able to write and update on the weekends. As for the next chapter expect Cho to come back into play, Valentine's day and kissing!!


	6. At Long Last

The Secret Auror 

**By: Pirate-Girl1017**

Chapter 6 

Remus laid Bluebelle down as gently as he could on the antique divan in her living room, careful of her injury and tried not to jar it any more then he could prevent. She sucked in her breath as he sat her on the plush cushions then turned to give out instructions to the others that had surrounded the piece of old furniture.

"Tonks, go get any healing supplies you can find. Alastor get me some hot water and cloth to use as bandages," he barked like an army officer. They nodded and hurried off in separate directions to do as they were told. "How are you hanging there?" he faced her again.

"I've been better," she hissed as she clutched a cushion.

"I believe it," he reached down to rip the remnants of a formerly gray, no black with blood, stocking from her leg. But when he did something caught his eye, she pulled her skirt over her leg when she realized what he was staring at.

"Leave it," she wheezed. The others hurried back into the room with the most appreciated timing, at least on her part, their arms laden with supplies. They used the herbs she kept in the pantry for healing purposes to clean, treat and clothe her wound. But no matter how much she needed the treatment she knew each of them had seen the serpents crawling around her ankle and disappearing underneath her dress.

After the poison had all been drawn out, rather painfully by means of an odd shaped metal tool with a glass vial, Tonks began to smear a green gunk over the open puncture holes. The disgusting stuff bubbled and sputtered when it touched the infected areas, festering and giving off a sickening smell.

"What is that?" asked Moody as he covered his mouth and what was left of his nose with an old and moth-eaten handkerchief.

"An advanced potion using bubbertuber puss," Tonks answered calmly as though she was the teacher. Bluebelle cringed and nearly lost her lunch when the acrid stench reached her.

"Kill me now," she pleaded, "anything is better then having **that** on me!"

"Oh be quite you big baby."

"Nyphmadora." The younger woman's unnaturally colored eyebrow twitched at the sound of her first name.

"You just got yourself a double dose of bubbertuber puss," she slapped a huge amount of the reeking slime on her leg, "you may have needed it anyway." The putrid looking concoction had thickened as she spread more on her friends leg and began to bloat out large bubbles of air as it killed the infection. Eventually it began to harden and change color, now it was a hard casing that resembled a shell on the beach of a strange yellowish color.

"That should do it for now," Tonks said wiping sweat from her brow. Lupin nodded and with a low and exhausted 'good bye' then left the room headed for the one he had been given to sleep in a few days prior to that. He would be returning home early the next morning, probably before dawn. Moody said he had a meeting with the ministry and soon too left, but only after having a few cups of tea laced with his favorite brandy that just so happened to be stored in the cellar. Soon the two women were left alone with only the light from a few oil lamps and the moonlight to brighten the room.

"Blue…" she began, "those snakes-"

"Don't tell anyone you saw them," she interupted. "I can't have any one else find out about them. Am I clear?"

"Yeah but what are they?"

"Don't ask me that, just forget that you ever saw them, okay?" She stood there, held her hands up in the motion for surrender and took a step back from her friend on the couch.

"What ever you say, Blue," she picked up her medical supplies and put them back in the cabinet where she found them before coming back to the room. "Do you want me to stay?"

"If you want."

"Then I will," and so she made herself comfortable on a neat by chair with some blankets that were lying about. Once she was situated to her needs, a footstool at her feet a pillow behind her head and three covers her legs, she looked at the invalid. With a flick of her wand she conjured up two steaming cups of tea, took one for herself and gave the other to Bluebelle. "Since you won't tell me about those snake things then tell me what's been going on at the school."

"Why do you want to know about that?"

"Oh nothing special," she twirled a short strand of her currently peach hair. "But didn't you tell me once that you had a sweetheart there?" Bluebelle neat choked on the air in her lungs and stared at Tonks like she'd just grown a red cap out of her head.

"I never said that!"

"You did so, can't really remember when but you did say that there was a special some one at the school."

"Are you sure that you weren't dreaming?"

"Sure."

"I'd really not rather talk about it, Nymph," she sighed tiredly. Her friend, sensing her true discomfort dropped the subject, for the moment at least.

After five days of lying around the house, doing nothing but recovering from a very itchy and irritated venom wound she had just about enough. The other aurors had left three days ago when she insisted that she had regained enough strength to move off the couch on her own. Now here she was, petting her purring cat in front of her fireplace, listening to her antique radio as Serena the singing sorceress pelted out one of her many top ten hits but staring through the window at the starry sky. A knock at the door disrupted the chorus of the song and ruined her concentration as she tried to find Leo among the constellations. At first she ignored the tapping, but the more she did the louder and more insistent it became.

"I'm coming!" she shouted and plopped Puffy on a cushion as she stood. The noise finally ended when she opened the door, her mouth ready to give the unwanted guest a tongue-lashing but kept it shut when she actually saw whom it was. "Severus, what are you doing here?"

"I think that should be obvious," he eyed her leg that had was now wrapped in white bandages. "Aren't you going to invite me in?"

"Of course," she stepped aside and shut the door behind him. Leading him into the living room she limped and favored her healthy leg, hoping he wouldn't mention it. As he walked she noticed his cold face was firmly put on, his stride was ridged, his eyes blank of emotion. That could only mean one thing when he was like this around her, he was terribly upset with her. He sat down on the sofa she used as a bed for the last few nights and made it plain that he left plenty of room to accommodate her as well. Taking the strong hint she sat next to him, letting her injured limb rest straight in front of her. This was going to be a long visit.

"What were you thinking going into the meeting like that? You could have gotten yourself killed!"

"I've done this for years, there's nothing to worry about."

"Do you call that nothing?" he pointed to her leg.

"I've been in worse positions," she countered defensively.

"You're not an auror anymore, you're a teacher and a guardian. Going into large gathering of Death Eaters is not your job any more."

"I needed to get away from the school for a while."

"So you try to play the heroine by defeating Lord Voldemort in a single night?"

"That's not what I was doing! It's complicated and I don't want to talk about it. Besides, you're a teacher yet you still go to meeting after meeting with those…those people and I don't scold you about it."

"But you left that world behind when you decided to take Potter in and work at the school. You should have never even left the grounds."

"The others needed another wand for the raid, so since I was here already I took the offer."

"And what would have happened if it wasn't such a great success?"

"Don't ask me that! I've known that answer for a long time," she turned away from him, turning off her radio on the small table next to the couch.

"Then why do it?" He got no answer, a deep and long sigh escaped his thin lips. "I saw Bellatrix send her serpent after you, I could see right through that disguise of yours. If I knew anyone else could too."

"You know me to well, you would be able to know it was me," she still didn't look at him.

"Malfoy knows you're a teacher at Hogwarts, and he knows that I've known longer then him."

"I know he knows, we ran into each other in Hogsmead, it wouldn't be hard for him to ask his son about me."

"You've been careless, Belle, **he** is probably already making plans for you. He wants you and has for years, I still don't know why but sooner or later he'll come for you…and your nephew. Most likely at the same time, you're an easy target now."

"I can take care of Harry and myself."

"Against Voldemort? You are strong, but not that strong he'd have you in his clutches faster then we could ever think of. Don't you realize the danger you've put yourself in?"

"And what about you? Haven't you put yourself in danger too? Working for Dumbledore but pretending that you're loyal to **him** spying on our side? You can't tell me that isn't dangerous."

"I do it because no one else can." Finally she did face him, her eyes like blue fire, her fists clenched at her sides.

"But you don't have to. You could have never joined those murders but you did! It could have been so different now but you had to follow your house mates and become a Death Eater."

"I did what I did and we can't change the past," the emotionless mask began to slowly fade away.

"Why did you do it?" her voice softened. "Everything could have been better."

"No it wouldn't, Voldemort would still have come back into power even if I hadn't joined him."

"But why did you in the first place?"

"I, like others, was offered something if I went to the dark side. How could I refuse?"

"Easily! What could they possibly give you that would make you turn so evil?"

"It was originally my fathers idea, my mother had no say and went along with whatever he decreed," she winced as she remembered him telling her about his shattered life at home as children. "He told me it was in the family blood, pure blood, to follow what was decided by the heir of Slytherin. I wouldn't do it, he punished me."

"You told me about him once," she touched his shoulder, he didn't shrug her off. "But you never gave into his beatings, so why join if not because of him?"

"I was offered something I wanted, and foolish young man that I was then, gave into the temptation." He stood, rubbing his hand over his face, holding the bridge of his nose in thought. "I've said too much about this, I came to see how you were healing. I can see you're fine now and I should be going," he barely turned to leave when she tugged on his cloak.

"We're not done yet."

"Yes we are, Belle," he pulled it back but she stood as well and tilted her head up so she could see his face. "I must be getting back. Promise me you won't go on any more auror business."

"If I'm needed I won't stop and ignore a plea for help, teacher or no teacher I need to do what ever I can to stop the enemy."

"Don't you dare go back," he hissed, "you've been wounded this time and lived but next time you act so stupidly your good luck my run out."

"Is that supposed to frighten me?" That apparently caused him to loose his temper, as his normally pale complexion turned dark red. He shook her shoulders, not noticing her wince as her hurt ankle jerked with each movement.

"Why are you being so stubborn? You could have died that night!"

"I did it for Harry," she gritted, "I want him to live a world free of those monsters. And I did it for you, so you don't have to keep returning to them at their beck and call."

"And if you die what good will it do me or him? I can't loose you!" Then she was deep in his embrace, his arms wrapped tightly around her, her face buried in the fabric of his shirt.

"Severus what-"

"When I saw her snake bit you, I knew that it's poison could kill you within hours if not treated quickly enough. But if I stayed to help, then I would be putting the both of us in danger. I thought I would never see you again." One of his hands cupped the back of her head, delving through her thick hair, the other locked around her waist.

"But you must have known the others would take care of me," she slipped her arms around his middle and lifted her face toward his.

"I couldn't know that for sure. Do you even understand why I was so tempted by the Death Eaters promise?" At the strange change of subject she was a little confused, but still she shook her head. "Voldemort said I could have whatever I wanted if I joined him, whatever I wanted above all thing on this earth. How could I refuse such an offer?"

"But what could he possibly give you?" He turned his eyes away from her, took a few deep breaths and gulped.

"You." Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open in surprise. For a few moments that seemed like eons she didn't say a word, but when she did the shook was only just getting to her.

"Me?"

"Yes, with Sirius Black trotting after you like a lovesick puppy how much longer could you have avoided his charms? For me that was a harder blow then I could bare. If given the choice who would a beautiful young woman want: him being so handsome and popular or me?"

"You can't think so low of yourself-"

"Can't I? Why do you think I wanted to take you with me to them? If I could get you to join like I had then you could be as far from Black as possible and closer to me. Don't you get it?"

"But Lily…"

"Your sister? What does she have to do with any of this?" Bluebelle pulled her hands over her face, and felt her skin turn pink with embarrassment. "You can't think I cared for her?"

"How could anyone not?"

"Belle, look at me," she timidly looked up again feeling lower then she ever had in her life. "I could never choose any girl over you, ever." Tears, of joy or sadness she couldn't say, built up in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks, he bent his head ad to her shock he kissed them off her face. "I foolishly let the desires of a young man's mind lead me down the wrong path. And because of that you've paid too dearly for my mistakes. All you've gone through his my fault."

"No, don't say that, please," she buried her face in his chest again and tried her best to hold in the sobs that were in her throat but to no avail.

"Why not? It is the truth."

"I've done things I regret too you know, don't you dare take all the blame!" She pulled away from him to sit on the armrest of a small love seat near the bay window where she put her arms around herself as though she was extremely cold.

"But not nearly as much as I have."

"Stop being so damn pessimistic, it's aggravating." To hands came down on her shoulders, a head rested on top of hers. "And being soft won't make me forgive you." He chuckled, a real one, not the evil one he usually reserved for the rest of humanity. Then the room was curiously silent.

"Promise me you won't go on any more raids."

"I can't do that, and you know it."

"That is not your responsibility any longer, all you have to worry about anymore is the next lesson you have to teach." From under her long, aqua lashes she looked up at the man behind her.

"And what is I'm needed again? How can I reject a call then?"

"If that comes up then there is no other choice, but that can be easily taken care of."

"You'd stop the others from summoning me?" That wasn't overly out of his personality to do, if he decided on something then there wasn't many people who could make him change his mind.

"If necessary."

"If you say that's for my own good I'll break your nose."

"Will you?"

"Don't put it past me."

"Now promise me."

"I promise," she sighed. The hands on her lifted and his presence was gone as he made his way to the door. "Wait," he turned slightly his cape swishing around his ankles. "Why would you want me in exchange for being a Death Eater?" He looked right in her eyes and she felt as though he could see straight through her.

"Because you were the only good thing in my life, still are, and I wanted to keep that as long as I could."

"Joining them wasn't the way to do that."

"My father wanted me to, and with my mother long gone who would have defended me against him, no one. So, when he brought me to my first meeting Voldemort must have seen that I did not want to be there. He looked into my mind and saw what would coax me into siding with him."

"He saw me?"

"Yes, and so he said if I would become a Death Eater and bring you to him then he would make sure Black would never be in the way and I could have you."

"Do you…I mean…" she took a deep breath to calm her stumbling tongue. "Do you love me?"

"Yes, since the day we met." Now she burst out into uncontrollable sobs and nearly fell off the armrest if not for Snape catching her.

"Why are you crying? Belle please stop," he felt like a total idiot, not knowing the first thing about women.

"You don't know how long I've waited to hear that!" From all her hysterical sobbing the weight on her wounded leg became too great and she fell to her knees, bringing him down with her. Then for some reason unknown to him she began to laugh.

"Belle, have you been drinking again?"

"No, it's just that I've always thought that you loved Lily," she continued to giggle and cry at the same time. "You don't know how happy that makes me!"

"Well…um…" he stuttered nervously, "if it makes any difference I always believed you loved Sirius Black."

"Dog boy? Never!"

Then Severus Snape received a kiss for the first time in the entirety of his thirty-eight years of living. Not exactly a good record but considering **who** was kissing him and how long he'd been wanting to do this (and quite a bit more according to his adolescent fantasies) it seemed right that he had never indulged in other females.

"Sev," she sighed. Her eyes were more then half closed, her cheeks flushed and her lips parted. "Kiss me back, please."

Needless to say when the first one was beyond good, a second was impossible to resist. His arms locked around her slender frame in a tight hold she was loath to break and she snaked her own long limbs around his neck in return.

"Mistress why is you be out of bed!"

**Disclaimer: **Well it's shorter then my usual but I thought that ending was a rather nice touch. If you're wondering what took me so long all I can say is that the new Phantom of the Opera movie went nationwide this month. I would give up my left arm before missing _anything _that has to do w/ Phantom. Until next time then.


	7. Author's Note

Dear All,

Long time no write. For once I have no legitimate excuse for writing more to this particular fic. I read HBP and felt ROYALLY screwed over. As soon as I find a way to get around the little fact that my favorite character just went and killed Dumbledore then I might be able to fix this. Other then that some of you will be glad to hear that I have finally decided to resurrect my POTC fic, it will be up again soon. See you then

Pirate-Girl1017


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